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3mr  i^nnhnh  f  ^ars. 

Commemorative  Essays  on  the  Reformation  of 
Dr.  Martin  Luther  and  Its  Blessed  Results. 

In  the  year  of  the 

of  ti|f  Epformatinn. 

BY  VARIOUS   LUTHERAN   WRITERS. 


Edited  by  PROF.  W.  H.  T.  DAU. 


St.  Louis,  Mo. 
concordia  publishing  house. 

191G. 


FOREWORD. 


A  comparatively  "iinknown  priest  and  professor  in  a 
small  German  town  on  the  border  of  civilization  sought 
to  ease  his  pastoral  conscience  by  inviting  the  learned 
doctors  of  his  day  to  discuss  with  him  a  very  sfaiple  ques- 
tion of  Biblical  teaching  and  Christian  morals :  Can  par- 
don for  sins  be  sold  and  bought  at  so  much  per?  There 
was  nothing  unusual  in  his  action :  hundreds  of  others 
had  done  the  same  thing  before  him,  many  more  after 
him.  Nor  was  the  question  difficult.  There  has  never 
lived  a  person  who  has  truly  believed  that  a  moral  debt 
can  be  liquidated  in  hard  cash.  But  in  every  age  there 
have  been  persons  credulous  enough  to  become  impressed 
with  a  pretension  of  mysterious  spiritual  power ;  and  there 
have  been  others  of  a  shrewdly  calculating  disposition  who 
have  thought  it  a  fine  convenience  to  be  permitted  to 
settle  their  account,  if  not  with  God,  at  least  with  the 
Church,  on  the  contract  plan  of  Give  and  Take,  rather 
than  on  the  terms  which  the  Eedeemer  offers,  when  He 
says :  Repent  and  believe  the  Gospel !  Every  age,  too, 
has  produced  enterprising  men  who  would  contrive  in  some 
way  to  accommodate  these  interesting  religious  bargain- 
hunters. 

Four  hundred  years  have  passed  since  the  event  took 
place.  That  is  a  sufficiently  long  time  for  the  entire  affair 
to  be  forgotten.  Few  deeds  of  men  amid  the  kaleidoscopic 
scenes  of  this  fleeting  life  outlive  oblivion.  lAither's  pro- 
test contained  the  seeds  of  immortality.  The  world  lias 
assured  itself  long  ago  that  there  was  wrapped  up  in  that 
simple,  but  courageous  challenge  more  than  a  cursory 
glance  at  the  event  in  its  external  aspect  would  warrant 


VI  FOREWORD. 

any  one  to  assume.  Xot  onh'  has  the  original  act  of  the 
Friar  of  Wittenberg  been  studied  with  unflagging  interest 
during  four  centuries,  but  also  the  bearings  of  that  act  on 
the  entire  spiritual  life  of  mankind  have  been  uncovered. 
Aside  from  its  immediate  effect  on  the  accredited  form  of 
the  Christian  religion  of  the  day,  there  have  resulted  from 
it,  more  or  less  indirectly,  great  changes  in  the  intellectual 
and  social  status  of  the  race.  Measuring  the  magnitude 
of  importance  that  is  now  attached  to  the  event  against 
the  insignificance  of  its  original  setting,  one  marvels  that 
out  of  so  little  there  should  have  come  so  much.  Surely, 
this  is  not  a  mere  man's  doing:  this  is  the  finger  of  the 
Almighty.  The  feat  of  slaying  a  panoplied  giant  with 
a  ridiculous  pebble  hurled  from  the  sling  of  a  shepherd 
boy  has  been  repeated. 

Once  more  the  world  is  preparing  to  review  causes  and 
effects  of  this  remarkable  event.  In  the  form  of  histories, 
biographies,  popular  narratives,  works  of  fiction,  the  Eefor- 
mation  in  Germany  has  been  told  by  hundreds  of  authors. 
In  thousands  of  monographs  particular  features  of  the 
movement  have  been  subjected  to  minute  investigation. 
Some  years  ago  a  brother,  at  our  request,  spent  hours  in 
the  British  Museum  of  London  turning  the  pages  of  that 
part  of  the  catalog  of  the  famous  institution  that  contains 
the  "Lutherana.''  Vastly  greater  still  are  treasures  of  this 
kind  hoarded  by  the  libraries  of  Germany.  It  seems  hardly 
possible  that  anything  new  can  be  written  on  the  subject. 

The  present  volume  of  studies  in  the  history  of  Luther 
and  liis  work  is  put  forth  with  no  claim  that  it  contributes 
elements  hitherto  unknown  to  the  world's  knowledge.  It 
desires  to  be  viewed,  first,  as  a  thank-offering  to  God  and 
an  appreciation  of  God's  instrument  in  the  upbuilding  of 
His  one,  holy.  Christian  Church  on  earth.  It  is,  there- 
fore, a  record  of  the  personal  faith  of  the  contributors  to 
this  volume  and  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  brethren  who 


FOREWORD.  VII 

share  that  faith  witli  them.  The  individuality  that  is* 
stamped  upon  these  essays^  and  the  variety  of  views  which 
they  afford  of  identical  or  related  facts,  has  not  destroyed 
the  unity  of  the  whole,  but  will^,  it  is  hoped,  lead  the 
reader  to  the  reflection  that  real  unity  is  inward,  not  out- 
ward; it  is  not  sameness,  dead  monotony,  repetition,  but 
the  lively  working  together  of  the  members  of  an  intelli- 
gent organism,  who,  while  acting  independently  and  in 
conformity  with  their  peculiar  powers  in  their  given  tasks, 
still  are  obeying  a  common  principle  and  realizing  a  com- 
mon aim.  Secondly,  the  special  studies  here  offered,  by 
focusing  attention  on  a  particular  feature  in  the  character 
of  Luther  and  his  work  or  on  a  critical  episode  in  his 
activitv,  exhibit  the  many-sidedness  of  the  Eeformer  and 
the  wealth  of  information  that  can  be  gathered  b}^  effort 
concentrated  on  a  given  point.  It  is  always,  the  same 
Luther  that  is  portrayed,  but  he  is  shown  in  each  case  at 
a  different  angle  of  vision.  Turning  to  any  chapter  of 
this  book,  the  reader  will  get  a  fairly  complete  account  of 
a  subject,  the  materials  for  which  he  could  not  gather  him- 
self except  by  laborious  research  in  many  volumes.  In 
arranging  the  various  articles,  historical  sequence  has  l)een 
followed  in  a  general  way,  discussions  of  the  more  abstract 
subjects  having  been  placed  in  suitable  connections.  The 
chronological  table  at  the  end  helps  to  locate  events  in  the 
panorama  of  Luther's  life. 

Four  hundred  years !  As  the  eye  sweeps  down  the  vista 
of  centuries,  and  the  dim  past  rises  into  view,  the  mind  be- 
comes fascinated  by  the  mighty  struggles,  the  astonishing 
sacrifices,  the  noble  faith  of  a  heroic  age.  At  first  the 
world  seems  out  of  joint  and  a  new  chaos  impending.  But 
out  of  the  confusion  there  rises  a  new  order.  Conquering 
truth  stands  triumphant  on  the  battle-field.  Owing  to  the 
folly  and  malice  of  men  its  coming  was  a  challenge  and 
the  signal  of  war.     It  will  always  be  thus :    the  assertion 


VIII  FOREWORD. 

of  truth  spells  strife  in  a  world  in  which  all  men  are  liars. 
The  spirit  of  Luther  is  marching  on,  leading  to  new  vic- 
tories. But  in  reality  the  advent  of  evangelical  truth  four 
hundred  years  ago  has  ushered  in  a  great  peace  and  pros- 
perity. Coleridge  probably  knew  too  little  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  to  be  able  to  estimate  correctly  her  valuation  of 
Luther,  but  he  is  right  otherwise  when  he  says :  "How 
would  Christendom  have  fared  without  a  Luther?  What 
would  Rome  have  done  and  dared  but  for  the  ocean  of  the 
reformed  that  bounds  her  ?  Luther  lives  yet  —  not  so  bene- 
ficiallv  in  the  Lutheran  Church  as  out  of  it  —  an  antas^o- 
nistic  spirit  to  Eome  and  a  purifying  and  preserving  spirit 
to  Christianity  at  large."  So  is  Froude  right :  "Had  there 
been  no  Luther,  the  English,  American,  and  German  peoples 
would  be  thinking  differently,  would  be  acting  differently, 
would  be  altogether  different  men  and  women  from  what 
they  are  at  this  moment." 

God  bless  the  Church  for  which  Luther  labored,  and 
speed  her  cause  in  every  part  of  the  world:  the  cause  of 
the  open  Bible,  of  free  grace,  of  saving  faith !  May  Christ 
continue  to  be  to  her  what  Luther  proclaimed  Him :  her 
all-sufficient  Teacher,  her  merciful  Reconciler,  her  loving 
Shepherd-King ! 

Concordia  Seminary,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 
On  the  Festival  of  the  Reformation,  1916. 

W.  H.  T.  Dau. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Formation  —  Deformation  —  Reformation.    ( Dr.  Abbetmeyer )       1 

Luther's  Family.     (Rev.  Both. )' 13 

Luther's  Successive  Appeals.     (Rev.  Morhart.) 24 

Luther  at  Worms.     (Rev.  Broecker.) 36 

Luther  and  Erasmus.    (Rev.  'M.  Walker. ) 49 

Luther  and  Justification.    (Rev.  Dallniann. ) 61 

Luther  at  Marburg.     (Prof.  Biedermann. ) 74 

Luther  the  Faithful  Confessor  of  Christ.    ( Prof.  Bente. )  . .  .  .     88 
The   Three   Principles   of   the   Reformation:     Sola    Scriptura, 

'     Sola  Gratia,  Sola  Fides.     (Prof.  Engelder.) 97 

The  Open  Bit^le.     (Prof.  Miller.) 110 

Luther  and  the  Peasant  War.     (Rev.  Schoenfeld. ) 123 

Luther's  Marriage.     (Rev.  Czamanske. ) 138 

Luther's    Two    Exiles:     Wartburg    and     Coburg.      (Rev.    H. 

Frincke. )    146 

Wittenberg  in  the  Days  of  Luther.    (Rev.  Koepchen.) 159 

Luther  and  His  Friends.     (Prof.  Moll. ) 173 

Luther  as  a  Preacher.     (Rev.  Fritz.) 188 

Luther's  Influence  on  Popular  Education.     (Prof.  Kohn.)....    194 
The    Economic    Teachings    and    Influence    of    Luther.      (Rev. 

Pannkols^e. )    206 

Luther  a  Lover  of  Nature.    (Rev.  J.  W.  Theiss.) 215 

Music  and  the  Reformation.     (Prof.  Renter.) 227 

Luther  and  the  Classics.     (Prof.  E.  G.  Sihler.) 240 

When  England  Almost  Became  Lutheran.  (Prof.Th.Graebner. )  254 

Luther's  End.     (Rev.  Haertel. ) .  .   268 

Tributes  to  Luther.    (Rev.  0.  C.  Kreinheder.) 277 

Luther  and  the   Constitution   of  the   United  States.     (Prof. 

Romoser. )    294 

Lutheranism  and  Christianity.     (Prof.  Dau. ) 301 

Chronological  Table  of  the  Age  of  Luther.     (Prof.  Dau.)  ....    315 


Formation  —  Deformation  —  Reformation. 

.    Dr.  C.  Abbetmeyer,  Concordia  College,  St.  P:iul.  Miiiii. 

Although  the  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century  has 
left  its  impress  on  niiiny  phases  of  modern  life,  it  is  of 
supreme  significance  as  a  religious  movement,  turning  from 
the  aherrations  of  popery  to  the  eternal  foundations,  restoring 
the  true  conception  of  the  Church  and  the  mode  of  obtaining 
membership  therein,  and  building  up,  on  the  model  of  the 
Apostolic  Church  of  Christ,  the  Church  of  the  Reformation. 
Eor  a  proper  appreciation  of  this  great  movement  no  retro- 
spect from  its  consequences  alone  suffices;  we  must  also  and 
chiefly  consider  its  antecedents,  that  is  to  say,  the  Formation 
and  the  Deformation  of  the  Church,  whose  character  and 
origins  are  depicted  in  Scripture,  and  whose  deterioration 
and  abasement  is  recorded  by  history. 

FORMATION. 

According  to  Holy  Writ,  God  created  man  good  and  holy, 
and,  even  after  the  Fall,  would  have  all  men  to  be  saved. 
Most  men  reject  the  grace  of  God;  some,  however,  believe 
in  Christ  and  have  their  sins  forgiven.  These,  of  whatever 
time  or  clime,  are  "ilie  com m anion  of  saints/'  "a  chosen 
generation,  a  royal  priesthood,  an  holy  nation,  a  peculiar 
people,"  to  show  forth  God's  praises;  a  l-ingdom  of  souls  in, 
but  not  of,  the  world,  believing  in  Christ,  their  King; 
a  spiritual  edifice,  erected,  not  of  dead,  but  of  living  stones, 
living  children  of  God,  who,  living  by  Christ  and  in  Christ, 
and  having  the  mind  of  Christ,  are  fitted  together  —  brethren 
all,  though  of  various  nations  and  stations  —  to  form  a  holy 
temple  and  habitation  of  God  among  men;  one  holy  Chris- 
tian Cluirch  throughout  all  ages,  against  which  the  gates 
c»f  hell  shall  not  prevail.     God  erects  His  Church  by  means 

Four  Hundrod  Years.  1 


2  FORMATIOX DEFORMATIOX REFORMATION'. 

of  His  Word,  with  which  He  endows  His  people  to  build 
itself  up  by  preaching  in  the  name  of  Jesus  repentance  and 
the  forgiveness  of  sins,  to  grow  stone  by  stone  throughout 
the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  to  endure  until  the  scaffolding  shall 
fall  away,  and  the  edifice,  so  long  invisible  to  mortal  eyes, 
is  completed  and  revealed  in  imposing  grandeur  and  glory. 

Wherever  two  or  more  believers  are  gathered  together  in 
Christ's  name,  about  His  Word  and  Sacraments,  the  means 
of  the  Church's  growth  and  the  signs  of  its  presence,  there 
is  God's  people,  there  is  a  visible  congregation,  mixed,  it 
may  be,  with  hypocrites,  but  in  its  outward  complexion  a  con- 
gregation of  God's  children.  Under  the  form  of  visible 
congregations  the  invisible  Church  within  these  performs 
its  duty  of  evangelizing  the  world,  and  enjoys  the  blessed 
privilege  of  communion  with  God  and  the  brethren. 

In  the  apostolic  days  the  temple  walls  grew  apace,  the 
kingdom  of  God  came  with  power ;  and  the  Apostolic  Church, 
grounded  as  well  as  portrayed  in  the  New  Testament,  will 
for  all  time  continue  to  be  the  model  Church. 

God  established  the  early  Church  by  means  of  His  Word. 
Wherever  Peter,  and  Philip,  and  Paul,  and  Barnabas,  and 
Titus,  and  the  other  disciples  went,  their  message  was  ever 
forgiveness  for  sinners  in  the  crucified  and  risen  Christ. 
"The  Gospel,"  says  Eusebius,  "suddenly  beamed  on  the  earth 
like  a  ray  of  the  sun."  And  everywhere  was  manifested  its 
divine  power.  A  breath  of  life  moved  over  the  vast  field 
of  death.  Gainsaying  Jews  and  dissolute  Gentiles  —  men 
and  women,  rulers  and  slaves  —  in  Jerusalem,  in  Samaria, 
in  Damascus,  in  Africa,  in  x\sia  Minor,  in  Greece,  in  Home, 
in  the  face  of  opposition  and  increasing  persecutions,  were 
transformed  into  believing  children  of  the  living  God.  The 
counsel  and  work  was  of  God;  no  man  could  hinder  or 
overthrow  it. 

What  was  taught  and  believed  in  apostolic  times  we  know 
from  the  sacred  writings  of  the  apostles  and  the  venerable 
Apostles'  Creed.  The  early  Christians  knew  that  forgiveness 
of  sin  was  by  grace  through  faith  in  Christ,  that  faith  was 
the   gift    of   God,   that   salvation    was   not   for   sinful   man 


FORMATION DEFORMATION REFORM  ATK )  \ .  3 

a  matter  of  merit  and  reward.  They  knew  Christ  to  be  their 
only  Priest  and  Mediator,  and  themselves  to  have  free  access 
to  the  Son  and  the  Father,  They  knew  themselves  to  be 
a  company  and  society  of  forgiven,  converted  sinners  and 
therefore  "the  communion  of  saints,"  the  spiritual  temple 
and  body  and  bride  of  Christ.  They  knew  that  the  Church 
must  have  visible  organizations  for  preaching  the  Word, 
and  that  in  these  God  knows  His  own. 

The  external  organization  and  administration  of  the  early 
Church  was  such  as  befitted  the  "royal  priesthood"  of  God's 
children.  In  that  community  of  brethren  all  were  of  equal 
dignity.  Each  member  had  for  himself  access  to  the  Word 
and  the  heart  of  God,  and  to  all  conjointly  had  been  given 
one  office,  the  ministry  of  the  Word,  the  Office  of  the  Keys, 
a  joint  privilege  and  duty,  to  be  performed,  therefore,  not 
by  individual  initiative  or  promiscuously,  but  "decently  and 
in  order,"  by  the  agreement  of  all.  Accordingly,  while  the 
apostles  preached  by  the  direct  call  of  Christ,  all  other 
preachers  (termed  "elders"  and  also  "bishops,"  that  is,  over- 
seers, as  we  learn  from  Paul's  letter  to  Titus  and  from  his 
address  to  the  Ephesian  elders)  derived  their  right  to  ad- 
minister in  public  the  office  of  the  Church  from  the  call 
of  the  congregation,  and  they  were  thereby  truly  ministers 
of  Christ.  By  its  own  equal  and  free  choice  (probably,  by 
raising  hands.  Acts  14,  23)  the  congregations  chose  their 
pastors,  even  as.  Acts  6,  "the  whole  multitude"  chose  deacons. 
In  matters  of  church-discipline,  likewise,  not  an  apostle  or 
bishop,  but  the  congregation  was  the  highest  tribunal,  in 
accordance  with  Christ's  words,  "Tell  it  unto  the  church." 

The  apostles,  as  inspired  teachers  and  also  as  elders 
(1  Pet.  5,  1),  instructed  and  advised;  but  aside  from  this 
they  were  brethren  among  brethren.  They  taught,  as  Christ 
had  taught  them,  that  in  His  kingdom  greatness  coitsisteil, 
not  in  exercising  dominion  and  authority,  but  in  ministering 
and  being  servants,  and  that  He  had  said:  "One  is  your 
Master,  even  Christ;  and  all  ye  are  brethren."  Thus  Peter 
exhorts  the  elders  ncjt  to  be  "lords  over  God's  heritage" 
(1  Pet.  5,  n)  ;    and  Paul  upbraids  the  Corinthians  for  tohn-- 


4  FORMATION DEFORMATION  REFORMATION. 

ating  arrogance  (2  Cor.  11,  20).  Xor  did  they  contradict 
and  counteract  their  teaching  by  domineering  iDractise.  At 
the  Council  of  Jerusalem  (Acts  15)  the  apostles  spoke,  but 
when  action  was  taken,  we  read :  "Then  pleased  it  the  apostles 
and  elders  with  the  whole  church,"  etc.  Happy  a  church 
with  such  teachers ! 

The  Word  of  Christ  established  the  Church  and  ruled  it, 
and  history  bears  witness  to  its  purifying  power  in  those 
cleansed  with  the  blood  of  Christ  and  sanctified  by  the  Spirit 
of  His  grace.  Its  high  ideal  of  the  Christian  life  becoming 
to  the  saints  and  children  of  God  prevented  the  impenitent 
sinner  from  even  outward  union  with  the  flock  of  Christ, 
and  taught  the  Christians  to  keep  themselves  unspotted 
from  the  world,  to  respect  the  dignity  and  purity  of  woman- 
hood, to  regard  even  the  slave  as  a  brother  in  Christ,  to  honor 
civil  government,  to  succor  the  needy,  and  to  do  good  to  all 
men,  in  short,  to  order  their  daily  lives  wholly  and  strictly 
in  accordance  with  their  faith.  Its  regenerating  influence, 
as  it  had  turned  a  Saul  into  a  Paul,  transformed  many 
a  malefactor  into  a  saint.  Its  consolations  gave  them  calm- 
ness and  confidence  and  fearlessness  in  the  face  of  the 
bitterest  animosity,  to  look  away  from  the  things  of  the 
earth  to  the  things  of  heaven.  Its  prophecy  of  their  Lord's 
second  coming  filled  them  with  the  joy  of  expectation. 

Thus  the  early  Church  in  doctrine  and,  to  a  high  degree, 
in  life  was  a  veritable  garden  of  the  Lord  on  earth.  An 
enthusiastic  faith  glowed  in  the  hearts  of  the  Christians. 
The  walls  of  the  temple  were  growing,  its  early  completion 
was  expected.  Paul  forewarned  them,  however,  2  Thess.  2, 
that  before  Christ's  second  coming  the  Church  must  expe- 
rience the  great  apostasy  through  "the  man  of  sin,"  who 
would  exalt  himself  in  the  very  temple  of  God  as  a  god 
to  deceive  men   unto  their   destruction. 

DEFORMATION. 

In  the  apostles'  own  times  "the  mystery  of  iniquity"  was 
already  at  work,  Satan  scattering  abroad  the  seeds  of  heresy 
and  vanity  to  render  Christ,  the  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King 


FORMATION DEFORMATION  REFORMATION.  5 

of  His  Church,  the  only  Mediator,  of  none  effect,  and  to  usher 
in  the  Antichrist. 

During  the  early  days  of  the  conflict,  the  Church  re- 
mained, upon  the  whole,  pure  in  doctrine  and  life.  Presbyters 
would  not  claim  the  ruling  power  belonging,  as  they  well 
knew,  to  all  saints.  But  with  Christianity  in  the  ascendant 
and  the  churches  growing  in  numbers,  wealth,  influence, 
and  worldliness,  the  Church  came  to  be  regarded,  no  longer 
as  the  invisible  "communion  of  saints,"  but,  by  harking 
back  to  the  old  Jewish  notion,  as  an  earthly  kingdom,  in 
which  the  clergy  (originally  those  chosen,  elected)  were  an 
order  or  caste  of  rulers,  and  the  laity  (the  people,  those  out- 
wardly connected  with  the  Church)  the  ruled.  Then  in- 
fluential presbyters  called  themselves  bishops,  and  bishops, 
styling  themselves  successors  to  the  apostles,  aspired  to  be 
great  princes  of  the  Church.  This  episcopal  aristocracy 
claimed  Christ's  continual  presence  and  His  Spirit's  guid- 
ance. His  keys  to  bind  and  to  loose,  His  protection  against 
the  gates  of  hell,  as  its  own  exclusive  heritage  and  pre- 
rogative. In  the  interest  of  the  unity  and  purity  of  the 
Church  in  the  face  of  heresy  and  worldliness  rather  than 
for  the  aggrandizement  of  the  episcopate,  Cyprian  based  the 
episcopal  authority  on  Christ's  words  to  Peter  (Matt.  16,  18), 
emphasizing  the  equality  of  all  bishops,  though  conceding 
to  Peter  a  certain  primacy  of  honor.  Here  was  the  idea  of 
a  Universal  Bishop,  of  the  Church  as  a  sacerdotal  monarchy. 
The  bishops  of  imperial  Rome,  the  alleged  successors  to 
Peter,  "prince  of  apostles,"  seized  upon  the  idea  as  promising 
them  even  more  than  imperial  glory  and  power.  A  voice 
beside  them  seemed  to  whisper:  "All  this  will  I  give  you. 
Ye  shall  be  as  gods !"  In  consequence,  from  century  to 
century  they  asserted  more  and  more  definitely,  insistently, 
impudently,  threateningly,  their  right,  as  "vicars  of  Christ," 
to  be  the  visible  heads  of  all  Christendom ;  and  with  con- 
summate zeal  and  ability,  apt  pupils  of  pagan  Rome,  now 
biding  their  time,  now  forcing  issues,  now  using  "earth  in 
defense  of  heaven,"  now  "heaven  itself  to  defend  earth\y 
possessions,"  consistently,  relentlessly,  they   str<»vo  to  make 


6  FORMATION  DEFORMATION  REFORMATION. 

the  vision  a  reality,  to  convert  the  primacy  of  honor  into 
a  supremacy  of  power. 

Protests  were  of  no  avail ;  the  times  favored  Home.  While 
the  Eastern  bishoprics  bowed  to  the  Eastern  Empire  and 
ere  long,  with  the  exception  of  Constantinople,  were  sub- 
merged beneath  the  tidal  wave  of  Islam,  the  papal  see,  the 
Mother  Church  and  only  sedes  apostolica  of  the  West,  in- 
creasingly independent  of  civil  control,  attaching  to  itself 
with  the  decline  and  fall  of  the  Western  Empire  the  imperial 
glory  of  "eternal  Rome,"  allying  itself  in  the  turmoil  of 
Teutonic  migrations  against  the  Arian  menace  with  the 
Franks,  found  in  this  Germanic  people,  from  Chlovis  to 
Charlemagne,  the  rising  tide  that  carried  it  to  the  supreme 
power.  The  papal  claims,  born  of  human  ambition  and 
Satanic  delusion,  based  on  misinterpretation  of  Scripture, 
and  bolstered  up  with  interpolations  and  forgeries,  were  re- 
pudiated wholly  by  the  Eastern  Church;  in  the  West,  how- 
ever, Rome  carried  through  its  program  with  magnificent 
success,  until  the  pope  held  on  earth,  as  he  said,  "the  place 
of  God  Almighty." 

As  "vicar  of  Christ"  the  pope  was  ^he  head  of  a  gigantic 
hierarchical  corporation,  which  he  called  the  kingdom  of  God, 
outside  of  which  there  is  no  salvation,  for  which  he  made  and 
unmade  at  will  laws  and  articles  of  faith,  and  participation 
in  which  he  conditioned  upon  the  administration  of  his 
sacraments  by  his  priests.  The  Scriptures,  as  being  dark  and 
incomplete,  he  interpreted,  supplemented,  and  perverted  from 
apocryphal  legends,  the  teachings  of  tradition,  or  his  own 
fancy,  saying  in  effect:  "Search  not  the  Scriptures;  I  am 
the  Lord,  your  God;  I  am  the  way  and  the  truth  and  the 
life."  For  his  "infallible"  ordinances  he  exacted  uncon- 
ditional obedience  as  the  i)rice  of  salvation.  His  hand  was 
laid  on  men  in  their  education,  their  reading,  their  amuse- 
ments, their  business.  He  touched  them  in  this  life  and  in 
that  to  come,  regulating  the  purgatorial  sufferings  and 
opening  or  closing  the  door  of  heaven  itself.  He  taxed  all 
Christendom  with  tithes  and  fees.  All  authority  on  earth 
being  derived  from  God,  all  temporal  rulers  were  of  necessity. 


FORMATION DEFORMATION  —  HKIOK.M  ATION.  J 

as  no  less  a  man  than  Augustine  had  taught  in  liis  Cily  of 
God,  subordinate  to  the  pope,  and  bound  to  do  his  bidding 
or  lose  their  thrones.  Active  dissenters,  were  not  only  ex- 
communicated and  driven  out  of  reputable  association  with 
their  fellow-men,  but  handed  over  to  severe  punishments, 
inflicted,  at  his  instance,  by  civil  authority.  Thus  a  priest 
of  the  Tiber  and  his  celibate  abettors  with  spiritual  sanctions 
and  with  fire  and  sword  held  men  in  bondage,  professedly 
to  save  their  souls.  This  was  the  sliip  of  Peter,  pope  and 
clergy  within,  the  laity  struggling  with  the  waves  and  im- 
ploring to  be  rescued. 

What,  then,  was  the  salvation  held  out  to  men  by  popery  i 
In  brief,,  salvation  without  Christ,  an  achievement  of  men's 
own  efforts,  crowned  by  priestly  mediation.  Man  was  not, 
by  means  of  the  Law,  shown  his  utter  sinfulness,  but  led  to 
believe  himself  possessed  of  at  least  some  power  for  good. 
He  was  not,  from  the  Gospel,  shown  that  the  merits  of  Christ 
are  sufficient  for  the  expiation  of  all  sins,  and  that  God  for 
His  sake  forgiveth  us  all  our  sins.  Instead,  he  was  told 
that,  as  faith  was  to  be  accounted  as  little  more  than  an 
outward  confession  of  the  Creed,  works  were  necessary  for 
salvation,  chiefly  works,  and  mainly  such  as  the  Church  pre- 
scribed, as  fidelity  to  the  pope,  auricular  confession,  mass, 
celibacy,  monkery,  invocation  of  Mary  and  of  saints,  by 
which  a  holy  man  might  wax  holier  than  required  even  to 
the  winning  of  supererogatory  merit.  Man  was  told  that 
the  priest  could  forgive  his  sins,  though  obliged  to  aug- 
ment Christ's  merit  by  offering  up  Christ  again  and  again 
in  sacrificial  mass,  and  that  he  could  impose  penances,  such 
as  fastings,  pilgrimages,  flagellations,  and  the  like,  or  com- 
mute these,  for  a  consideration,  into  indulgences  transferring 
to  the  sinner's  account  righteousness  from  the  inexhaustible 
treasury  of  merits  laid  up  by  saints  and  managed  by  the 
priests.  To  be  the  more  solicitous  in  works,  man  was  led 
to  tremble  forever  in  doubt  of  the  certainty  of  his  salvation. 
Truly,  here  was  man  estranged  from  the  love  of  Christ,  and 
delivered  up  to  a  greedy  priesthood  to  his  own  undoing.  To 
charm    the    senses,    the    pope    tricked    out   his    system    with 


S  FORMATION DEFORMATION REFORMATION. 

gorgeous  ceremonies  and  alluring  melodies.  But  amid  the 
pomp  and  pageantry  of  crowns  and  gowns  and  croziers,  pro- 
cessions and  genuflections,  relics  and  rosaries,  incense  and 
chrism  and  candles  and  crucifixes,  tinkling  of  bells  and 
sprinkling  of  holy  water,  benedictions  and  consecrations, 
paternosters  and  Ave  Marias,  —  a  ceremonial  not  utterly 
remote  from  the  prayer-wheel  and  other  rites  of  the  Dalai 
Lama,  —  where  was  the  knowledge  of  the  living  God,  of  the 
loving,  all-sufficient  Savior  from  sin  ?  Under  Christian  forms 
men  were  offered  for  salvation  the  pagan  creed  of  human 
works.  Christ  seemed  to  have  died  for  the  w'orld,  and 
established  His  Church  in  vain.  The  "mystery  of  iniquity" 
sat  enthroned  in  God's  temple.  Rome  gave  its  obedient 
children  stones  for  bread.  It  fleeced  the  flock  instead  of 
feeding  it.  The  house  of  God  had  become  a  den  of 
thieves. 

How  was  it  in  those  evil  days  with  the  spiritual  kingdom 
and  temple  of  God,  "the  communion  of  saints"  ?  Some  few, 
no  doubt,  found  the  truth  of  salvation  despite  the  delusions 
abroad.  To  speak  the  truth  aloud  meant  papal  anathema, 
dungeon,  stake,  and  sword.  The  great  mass  of  the  people 
lacked  true  knowledge.  Rome  aligned  whole  nations  into 
its  outward  organization,  with  accommodation  to  native 
prejudices,  and  the  result  was  baptized  heathenism.  At  best, 
its  discipline  helped  to  police  unruly  communities,  but  it 
failed  to  effect  their  spiritual  regenera,tion.  Had  it  but 
preached  the  grace  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  with  its  divine 
power  of  touching  and  transforming  the  wildest  hearts,  the 
Dark  Ages  in  less  than  the  thousand  years  of  papal  domina- 
Ttion  would  have  been  radiant  with  faith  and  progress.  Rome 
left  the  nations  in  ignorance  of  divine  truth;  its  indulgences 
•were  to  the  multitude  a  license  to  sin.  Consequently  the 
corruption  of  morals  in  papal  times  was  appalling,  and  the 
abomination  stood  in  the  holy  places.  Rome  was,  indeed,  the 
])urple  harlot  of  the  Apocalypse,  that  i)araded  as  the  bride  of 
Christ,  making  drunk  with  her  wine  the  princes  of  the  earth, 
so  that  they  lent  her  their  arm  for  the  spiritual  and  bodily 


FOKilATIOX  DEFORMATION KEFOUMATIOX.  9 

destruction  of  the  true  bride;  and  the  scarlet  woman  was 
drunk  with  the  bloo<l  of  the  saints.  The  visible  Church, — 
from  its  tirst  estate,  alas,  how  fallen! 

Men  sighed  and  groaned  and  cursed  under  the  yoke  of 
Rome,  but  could  not  break  away  from  it,  because,  having 
lost  true  knowledge  of  Christ,  they  believed  the  pope  to  be 
the  divinely  appointed  mediator  between  God  and  man.  The 
false  doctrine  that  the  pope  was  "the  vicar  of  Christ"  led  to 
the  deformation  of  the  Church,  and  was  the  barrier  pre- 
venting reformation.  It  served  to  palliate  all  abuses.  If  the 
hierarchy  gave  offense  by  wicked  lives,  there  was  no  recourse, 
since,  in  spite  of  everything,  from  the  priests  alone  men 
must  obtain  salvation,  or  be  lost.  This  doctrine  sufficed  to 
shackle  the  temporal  powers.  The  Empire,  representing  in 
little  more  than  theory  God's  political  government,  and  the 
rising  national  states,  infringing  on  the  imperial  claim  of 
universality,  —  all  were  compelled,  if  need  be  by  ban  and 
interdict,  and  by  incitement  of  the  populace  to  rebellion, 
to  tolerate  the  papal  revenue  collectors  and  submit  to  papal 
political  interference  through  the  landholding  prelacy  de- 
pendent on  Rome.  This  doctrine  preserved  the  papacy  as 
an  institution,  when  in  licentious  Avignon  it  had  become 
a  tool  of  French  policy  and  a  source  of  grievance  to  all 
other  nations,  and  when  in  the  great  schism  it  had  become 
a  reproach  and  byword  of  contempt.  This  doctrine  had 
absorbed  the  Clugny  reform  movement  and  placed  its  ex- 
ponent, Ilildebrand,  on  the  pinnacle  of  power.  To  this 
doctrine  the  Mystics  bowed  in  all  their  spiritual  ardor.  This 
doctrine  was  the  excuse  for  fire  and  sword,  for  the  slaughter 
of  Albigensian  and  Waldensian  innocents.  This  doctrine 
proved  stronger  than  Wyclif  and  Hus  and  Jerome  and 
Savonarola.  This  doctrine,  like  a  magic  charm,  held  the 
best  of  men  under  the  iron  scepter  of  the  dragon  throne, 
making  them  even  carry  fagots  for  the  burning  of  saints. 
This  doctrine  forestalled  every  conciliar  attempt  at  better- 
ment "in  head  and  members,"  because  in  the  popular  con- 
viction the  pope  was  by  divine  right  the  gatekeeper  of  heaven, 
and  therefore  sacred  and  indispensable.     Tlie  bishops  made 


1  0  FOKMATIOX DEFORMATION  REFORMATION. 

their  peace  with  Peter,  not  to  their  own  disadvantage. 
Princes  alternately  fought  or  bought  the  pope.  The  evil 
continued.  Men  sighed  and  groaned  and  cursed,  but  bore 
their  burden,  because  salvation  came  from  Rome. 

REFORMATION. 

A  reformation  was  soi:ely  needed,  but  it  seemed  impossible. 
Nevertheless,  in  the  darkest  night  God  had  not  forgotten 
His  people,  and  in  His  own  good  time  He  reformed  the 
Church,  even  as  He  had  formed  it,  by  the  Spirit  of  His 
mouth,  by  the  Word  of  His  grace  and  power.  He  selected 
the  time  and  the  place,  provided  the  man,  and  so  ordered 
the  circumstances  and  shaped  the  trend  of  events  as  to  afford 
His  work  the  conditions  of  success.  The  political  embarrass- 
ments of  emperor  and  pope,  the  Turkish  menace,  Germany's 
lack  of  national  unity,  the  fermenting  economic  discontent 
of  the  peasantry,  the  rising  prosperity  and  independence  of 
the  cities,  the  invention  of  printing,  the  revival  of  learning, 
and  the  occupation  of  such  men  as  Reuchlin  and  Erasmus 
with  the  original  texts  of  Scripture,  the  genius  of  Luther 
and  his  compeers,  all  the  seething  forces  of  the  day,  —  aids 
all,  not  causes,  of  the  Reformation,  —  God  directed  so  to 
work  together  as  to  provide  for  His  Gospel  an  entrance  into 
the  hearts  of  men,  to  dethrone  the  despot  priest,  and  to  re- 
establish the  liberty  of  His  children  in  His  kingdom. 

It  will  be  instructive  to  trace  the  main  stages  of  develop- 
ment by  which  God  trained  and  prepared  the  chief  instrument 
of  the  Reformation,  Martin  Luther.  Luther  had  been  taught 
to  fear  God,  and  he  strove,  as  few  have  striven,  to  acquire 
by  the  way  the  Church  taught  him  the  righteousness  that 
had  the  approval  of  God.  But  neither  his  own  works  nor  the 
services  of  priests  or  saints  brought  comfort  to  his  soul. 
Then  God  led  him  to  find  in  His  Word  the  truth  that 
righteousness  is  by  grace,  through  faith  in  Christ  the  Right- 
eous, not  acquired  by  merit  of  works,  but  the  free  gift  of 
God.  It  was  a  discovery  that  brought  him  peace,  one  he 
pondered  over  incessantly  and  hastened  to  impart  to  all  as, 
to  his  simple  belief,  the  actual,  though  obscured,  doctrine  of 


FOBMATION DEFORMATION  REFORMATION.  \  1 

the  papal  Church.  What  could  he  do  but  appeal  against 
the  unspeakable  blasphemy  of  Tetzel's  indulgences  to  tlie 
rulers  of  the  Church,  whom,  despite  the  sins  and  abuses  he 
had  occasion  to  witness  among  the  clergy,  he  regarded  as 
divinely  appointed?  But,  behold,  bishop  and  cardinal  and 
pope  sided  with  Tetzel  against  God!  Surely,  they  erred. 
God  gave  him  boldness  to  speak  out.  And  pope  and  cardinal 
and  bishop  bade  him  be  silent,  silent  about  what  God  Himself 
had  spoken  and  had  wrought  in  him!  Nay,  they  placed 
upon  him  the  excommunication  of  the  heretic!  And  yet 
God's  Word  was  true,  and  yet  the  doctrine  of  grace  in  Christ 
'was  true,  and  yet  God  still  regarded  him  as  Kis  child  and 
a  member  of  His  Church ;  for  —  now  he  saw  it  clearly  — ■ 
the  Church  was  not  the,  visible  Roman  hierarchy,  but  "the 
communion  of  saints,"  the  company  of  all  true  believers, 
each  one  of  whom  was  a  child  of  God  and  a  priest  of  God 
with  free  access,  since  Christ's  coming,  to  the  Father's  heart. 
With  horror  he  realized  the  abysmal  villainy  of  popery  posing 
as  intermediary  between  God  and  man  to  the  exclusion  of 
Christ.  The  pope?  A  blasphemous  usurper  he,  "the  man 
of  sin,"  "the  son  of  perdition,"  the  Antichrist  enthroned  in 
God's  temide !  Luther  feared  God ;  he  no  longer  feared  the 
pope.     God  had  made  him  free. 

Here  was  not  a  social  reformer  or  a  political  agitator, 
not  a  philosopher  exposing  the  fallacy  of  popery,  not  a  cham- 
pion of  the  original  rights  of  reason.  Here  was  a  soul  in 
eager  search  of  salvation,  a  man  whom  God  had  given  the 
knowledge  and  peace  of  Christ,  and  strength  to  say  to  popes 
and  to  princes,  to  mobs  and  to  thinkers :  "We  ought  to  obey 
God  rather  than  men." 

Three  leading  truths  Luther  had  learned  by  the  grace 
of  God : 

1)  Christ  is  the  Prophet  of  His  Church,  the  only  infallible 
Teacher.  His  written  Word,  the  Word  of  God,  is  the  saving 
truth,  the  only  safe  rule  of  faith  and  life. 

2)  Christ  is  the  Priest  of  His  Church,  whose  one  sacrifice 
atoned  for  all  the  sins  of  all  men.  Only  God's  free  grace  in 
Christ,  the  only  and  perfect  ^Fediator,  is  the  way  of  salvation. 


12  FORMATION DEFORilATlOX  REFORM ATIOX. 

3)  Christ  is  the  King  of  His  Church,  its  only  Master  and 
Head,  and  all  members  of  His  spiritual  body  and  kingdom 
are  brethren. 

With  the  glorious  titles  and  offices  of  Christ  the  pope  had 
invested  himself  as  "vicar  of  Christ/'  and  corrupted  the  way 
of  salvation;  by  restoring  the  way  of  salvation  the  Refor- 
mation emancipated  mankind  from  popery  to  worship  the 
living  God  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 

When  the  old  Gospel  message  of  the  wonderful  works  of 
God  again  was  heard,  heard  in  the  vernacular,  as  Bible-text, 
catechetical  instruction,  sermon,  or  hymn,  the  Spirit  of  God 
came  in  among  men,  and  multitudes  experienced  with  joy 
what  Luther  had  experienced.  With  lightning  swiftness,  as 
if  borne  on  angels'  wings,  the  Word  spread  from  mouth  to 
mouth,  from  land  to  land  through  Christendom.  It  achieved 
what  no  political  or  social  discontent,  no  enlightenment  of 
reason  could  have  accomplished.  When  men  once  recognized 
in  Christ  their  only  Mediator  and  Redeemer,  the  fear  of 
Rome  fell  from  their  hearts,  they  threw  off  the  galling  yoke 
of  the  tyrant  and  worshiped  Jesus  Christ,  their  God  and 
King. 

The  Reformation,  while  not  territorially  coextensive  with 
the  old-time  domain  of  Rome,  was  in  substance  thorough  and 
complete  and  final.  It  rejected  all  popish  errors,  and  re- 
established all  of  God's  truth.  It  gave  back  to  men  the 
Bible,  the  true  knowledge  of  justification,  and  the  spiritual 
priesthood  of  all  believers.  It  evolved  no  new  teaching.  It 
was  a  return  to  the  eternal  foundations,  a  revival  and  restora- 
tion of  apostolic  Christianity,  a  regeneration.  It  established 
a  church  in  which  again,  as  in  apostolic  days,  precious  things 
were  spoken,  and  in  which  a  blessed  people  freely  communed 
with  its  God;  a  church  which,  conservative  in  spirit,  re- 
tained of  the  stately  ritual  grown  up  in  tlie  course  of  ages 
whatever  was  consonant  with  Scripture;  a  church  which, 
tenacious  of  the  liberty  of  God's  children,  declared  the  con- 
gregations to  be  the  seats  of  authority,  defined  its  inde- 
pendence from  the  State,  and  in  time  of  need  accepted  the 
guidance    of    princes    only    as    tliat    <»f    prominent    members 


LUTHER'S    FAMIIA'.  13 

of  the  ehurcli,  prouoiinred  the  form  of  church-government 
a  matter  of  Christian  liberty,  and  forbade  binding  men's 
consciences  with  human  ordinances  as  of  like  force  with 
divine  commands ;  a  church  which  by  a  proper  use  of  the 
office  of  the  keys  segregated  offenders  from  the  flock,  which 
taught  its  members  to  honor  hearth  and  home  above  the 
cloister  of  the  celibate,  to  obey  civil  magistrates,  and  to 
regard  labor  in  ordinary  callings  as  of  greater  glory  than 
monkerj^  and  which  in  a  thousand  ways  was  an  unmeasured 
blessing  to  the  social,  political,  and  intellectual  life  of  man- 
kind. The  Church  of  the  Reformation  was  built,  in  essential 
conformity  with  the  Apostolic  Church,  on  the  onlj^  and  final 
oracles  of  God.  Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay.  Beyond 
this  it  is  not  safe  to  go.  To  reform  the  Reformation,  to  seek 
further  development  of  the  Church  along  "modern"  lines, 
away  from  Scripture  truth,  means  another  deformation, 
a  relapse  into  the  pagan,  papal  religion  of  works. 

The  quadricentennial  of  the  Reformation  exhorts  us  to 
value  our  glorious  birthright  in  the  Church  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, which  as  a  free  Church  in  this  our  land  of  freedom 
lifts  aloft  the  torch  of  truth  t©  guide  us  through  the  diffi- 
culties of  life  and  through  the  valley  of  the  dark  shadows. 
Be  it  ours  to  maintain  God's  Word  and  Luther's  doctrine 
]iure,  holding  that  fast  which  we  have,  that  no  man  take  our 
crown.  Foes  there  are  without  number,  but  God  is  with 
Ilis  own,  and  will  protect  and  prosper  Ilis  Church,  until  the 
temple  is  completed,  and  Antichrist  is  destroyed  with  the 
brightness  of  our  Lord's  coming. 


Luther's  Family. 

Arthub  II.  C.  Both,  Chicago,  111. 

Among  the  low.  wooded  hills  of  Thuringia,  in  the  very 
heart  of  the  German  States,  lies  the  little  village  of  Moehra. 
It  probably  received  its  name  from  the  character  of  the  soil 
around  it,  which  is  to  a  great  extent  moorland,  and  but 
poorly   suited   to   agriculture.      The  villagers  of  ^lochra  cer- 


14  Luther's  family. 

tainly  earned  their  bread  in  the  sweat  of  their  brow,  for  the 
soil  but  poorly  repaid  them  for  their  industry.  Mining  also 
was  carried  on  here,  as  copper  had  been  found ;  but  the  yield 
was  not  so  great  as  at  Mansfeld  and  other  places. 

As  a  village,  Moehra  was  insignificant.  It  was  affiliated 
with  the  neighboring  parish,  and  though  it  had  a  little 
chapel,  yet  it  was  without  a  priest.  The  villagers  were  mostly 
independent  peasants,  who  owned  their  homes  and  farms, 
while  others  worked  in  the  mines.  They  were  a  hardy  and 
sturdy  race,  and  lived  frugal,  but  honest  lives.  Their  customs 
were  plain  and  vigorous.  They  were  ever  ready  to  defend 
their  rights  with  their  fists,  yet,  withal.  Christians,  as  Chris- 
tianity went  in  those  days.  Time  and  again  the  youngest 
sons  had  taken  over  their  fathers'  homes  and  farms,  while 
the  older  brothers  sought  their  fortunes  in  other  places  and 
other  occupations. 

From  time  immemorial  Moehra  had  been  the  home  of 
the  Luthers,  and  here  Hans  Luther  had  grown  to  manhood, 
and  entered  the  state  of  matrimony  with  Margareta  Ziegler. 
However,  as  custom  deprived  him  of  the  hope  of  some  day 
taking  over  the  paternal  homestead,  Hans  thought  he  would 
seek  his  fortune  in  some  other  place,  and  so,  together  with 
his  young  wife,  he  emigrated  to  Eisleben,  in  the  county  of 
Mansfeld.  Here  he  hoped  to  find  a  better  opportunity  of 
making  an  honest  living  by  working  in  the  mines,  which  in 
those  days  were  flourishing  in  a  way  never  known  around 
Moehra. 

Here  in  the  miners'  quarters  at  Eisleben,  on  the  10th  of 
November,  1483,  their  first  child  was  born  to  the  young- 
couple,  and,  agreeably  to  the  custom  of  the  time,  baptized 
in  St.  Peter's  Church  on  the  following  day.  Because  it  was 
the  day  of  St.  Martin,  the  child  was  named  after  that  saint. 
Tradition  still  points  out  the  house  in  which  Martin  Luther 
was  born,  though  only  the  walls  of  the  original  house  still 
stand.  Tlie  church  was  later  enlarged  and  called  Peter  and 
Paul's  Church.  It  is  said  that  the  present  baptismal  font 
retains  portions  of  the  old.  But  so  many  miners  were  at- 
tracted to  Eisleben  that  Plans  Luther  failed  to  realize  his 


LUTHER'S    FAMILY.  15 

expectations,  and  when  Martin  was  only  six  months  old,  he 
moved  to  Mansfeld,  six  miles  away. 

Mansfeld  lies  on  the  banks  of  a  stream,  is  enclosed  by 
hills,  and  above  it  stands  the  stately  castle  of  the  counts  to 
whom  the  place  belonged.  The  scenery  is  more  severe  and 
the  air  harsher  than  at  Moehra,  and  in  general  the  people 
were  rougher  than  the  Thuringians.  Hans  Luther  found 
employment  in  the  mines,  and  his  wife  did  all  she  could  to 
help  to  support  the  family.  "My  father,"  the  Reformer  said, 
*'was  a  poor  miner;  my  mother  carried  in  all  the  wood 
upon  her  back ;  they  worked  the  flesh  off  their  bones  to  bring 
us  up."  Gradually,  however,  things  improved,  and  we  hear 
that  Hans  Luther  leased  two  smelting-furnaces  from  the 
counts  for  a  term  of  years,  and  even  bought  a  good  dwelling- 
house  in  the  principal  street  of  the  town.  Though  his  out- 
ward prosperity  did  thus  improve,  the  maintenance  and 
education  of  his  family  was  a  constant  cause  of  anxiety. 

Hans  Luther  bore  a  good  reputation  among  his  towns- 
men, and  as  early  as  1491  was  a  member  of  the  town  magis- 
tracy. He  associated  with  the  best  families,  was  personally 
known  to  the  counts  and  was  much  esteemed  by  them.  When 
Martin  Luther  had  acquired  fame,  his  parents  frequently 
visited  him  in  Wittenberg,  and  moved  with  simple  dignity 
ai#)ng  his  friends.  Melanchthon  describes  Hans  Luther  as 
a  man  who  by  the  puritj'  of  his  character  and  conduct  won 
for  himself  universal  affection  and  esteem.  "The  mother," 
he  says,  "was  a  worthy  woman,  distinguished  for  her  modesty, 
her  fear  of  God,  and  constant  communion  with  God  in 
prayer." 

In  their  home  the  Luthors  maintained  their  children  in 
strict  discipline,  but  they  meant  heartily  well  by  it.  They 
taught  their  children  simple  prayers  and  hymns,  and  as  they 
themselves  had  been  taught,  represented  God  and  Jesus  as 
stern  judges,  whose  wrath  would  only  be  appeased  by  securing 
the  intercession  of  the  saints.  The  Cluirch  and  the  pope 
were  held  in  reverent  awe. 

Not  yet  five  years  old,  Martin  was  sent  to  the  town  school. 
In  bad  weather  his  father  or  Xicolas  Gender,  an  older  school- 


16  LUTHER'S    FAMILY. 

mate,  who  later  married  Luther's  sister,  often  carried  him 
over  the  steep  and  long  way  to  the  schoolhouse.  With  dili- 
gence he  learned  the  Ten  Commandments,  the  Creed,  and 
the  Lord's  Prayer.  He  was  also  instructed  in  reading, 
writing,  and  in  the  rudiments  of  Latin  grammar.  The 
teachers,  however,  were  extremely  severe  and  rude,  and 
Luther  complains  in  later  life  that  the  examinations  were 
like  a  trial  for  murder.  Still  there  was  no  other  schooling 
to  be  had  in  his  days,  and  his  father  had  decided  to  give  his 
son  all  the  education  he  could  get.  After  finishing  the 
course  of  the  school  at  Mansfeld  at  the  tender  age  of 
fourteen,  we  behold  Martin  leaving  his  paternal  home  with 
Hans  Reinecke,  whose  father  was  overseer  of  the  mines 
at  Mansfeld,  to  take  up  his  studies  at  Magdeburg.  And  so 
we  also  leave  the  family  of  Hans  and  Margareta  Luther 
in  Mansfeld,  and  follow  the  great  Reformer  into  his  own 
family. 

One  day,  in  the  fall  of  1508,  the  good  folks  of  Wittenberg 
beheld  a  pale  and  emaciated  monk  of  about  twenty-five  years 
enter  their  city  over  the  wooden  bridge  that  crossed  the  Elbe. 
He  had  come  from  Erfurt  and  asked  to  be  directed  to  the 
Augustinian  Convent,  where  he  was  to  find  shelter  and  food 
with  the  brothers  of  his  order.  His  departure  from  Erfurt 
had  been  so  abrupt  and  unexpected  that  "Brother  Augustine" 
had  not  found  time  to  take  formal  leave  of  his  friends;  and 
his  entrance  at  Wittenberg  was  just  as  sudden  and  informal. 
But  he  had  come  at  the  command  of  his  superior,  Dr.  Stau- 
pitz,  and  by  the  will  of  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  to  be  one  of 
the  professors  at  the  University  of  Wittenberg,  which  had 
been  founded  in  1502,  and  for  which  institution  only  the 
very  best  talent  was  being  sought.  x\t  once  our  good  friar 
engaged  in  his  occupation,  and,  as  was  to  be  expected,  de- 
voted all  his  time  and  his  enormous  energies  to  his  new  task. 
The  wisdom  of  Dr.  Staupitz  in  selecting  Luther  soon  became 
apparent,  and  before  long  the  renown  of  the  young  professor 
spread  far  beyond  his  university. 

But  though  his  fame  grew,  he  remained  the  pious  and 
humble  brother,  and  lived  scrupulously  and  conscientiously 


LUTHER'S    FAMILY.  17 

according  to  the  rules  of  his  eonvent.  Little  did  he  need  to 
supply  his  daily  wants.  Often  a  few  pieces  of  bread  and 
a  little  salt  made  up  his  daily  ration.  His  i3ersonal  comfort 
he  neglected  altogether.  Melanchthon  says  that  for  a  whole 
year  he  did  not  take  time  to  make  his  bed  or  change  his 
bedding.  The  days  passed  too  raj)idly,  and  often  there  was 
not  time  enough  for  all  the  reading',  writing,  and  studying 
that  he  wished  to  do. 

Thus  seventeen  years  passed,  and  in  them  many  great 
events  occurred.  The  Ninety-iive  Theses  had  been  nailed 
to  the  door  of  the  Castle  Church.  Luther  had  faced  Church 
and  State  at  Worms,  the  New  Testament  had  been  translated 
into  the  country's  vernacular,  and  the  German  people  were 
drinking  divine  truth  from  its  undefiled  fountainhead,  and 
thousands  of  Christians  had  become  divinely  assured  of  their 
salvation  by  grace,  for  Christ's  sake,  through  faith.  Luther 
had  been  exconmiunicated  and  outlawed,  and  yet  he  lived, 
and  his  influence  grew  from  day  to  day. 

A  natural  result  of  Luther's  evangelical  preaching  was 
that  monasticism  lost  its  imagined  virtue  with  the  people. 
Matrimony  again  became  a  holy  estate.  Priests  and  monks 
realized  the  Biblical  truth  that  it  is  not  good  that  man  should 
be  alone.  They  had  vainly  sought  to  achieve  the  acme  of 
holiness  in  the  unevangelical,  papal  institution  of  celibacy, 
that  man  should  be  alone.  Many,  therefore,  left  their  e(»n- 
vents,  and  took  wives,  and  began  to  live  as  God  had  ordained 
it  soon  afer  creation. 

At  last  Luther  also,  rather  suddenly  and  without  con- 
sulting many  friends,  decided  to  prove  his  teaching  by  his 
own  example.  To  please  his  old  father,  and  to  spite  the 
devil,  he  laid  aside  his  monk's  cowl,  and  repudiated  his  vow 
of  celibacy,  and  in  the  presence  of  Bugenhagen,  Justus 
Jonas,  Dr.  Apel,  and  Lucas  Cranach  reverently  and  in  the 
fear  of  God  took  Catherine  Von  Bora  to  be  his  wedded  wife. 
The  marriage  was  solemnized  by  Bugenhagen,  the  city  pastor,. 
in  the  customary  way,  on  June  13,  1525.  Two  weeks  later 
a  public  celebration  took  place,  at  which  his  parents  also 
were  present. 

Four  Hundred  Years.  2 


18  LUTHER'S    FAMILY. 

The  former  convent,  which  during  the  last  years  had  been 
occupied  by  only  Luther  and  Brisger,  the  prior,  now  became 
the  home  of  the  great  Reformer  and  his  family  with  their 
many  friends  and  guests,  both  illustrious  men  and  poor 
students,  near  relatives  and  parasites.  Now  no  longer  were 
the  vigils  kept,  nor  the  fasts  practised,  nor  the  hours  prayed; 
no  longer  did  the  gloom  and  austerity  of  the  monastic  mode 
of  living  prevail.  Through  its  halls  and  rooms  now  re- 
sounded the  joyful  laughter  and  singing  of  children,  the 
pleasant  conversation  of  Kate  and  Aunt  Lena  and  the  ladies. 
The  old  cloister  had  become  an  evangelical  parsonage. 
Instead  of  chanting  the  various  liturgies  to  the  saints,  the 
Ave  Marias,  the  matins  and  vespers,  the  household  now 
joined  in  family  devotion,  praying  the  Ten  Commandments, 
the  Creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  Psalms.  A  new  order, 
indeed,  had  been  introduced. 

Though  Luther's  marriage  to  Catherine  Von  Bora  was 
not  at  all  romantic,  yet  he  certainly  loved  her  with  a  pious 
and  pure  affection,  and  Catherine  willingly  reciprocated  his 
love.  Luther's  letters  to  his  wife  plainly  show  this>  as  do 
also  remarks  which  he  made  about  her  to  his  friends.  In 
fine  Christian  harmony  they  lived  together  and  for  each 
other. 

From  morning  till  evening  Kate  was  busy  with  the  affairs 
of  the  house  and  garden.  She  purchased  the  necessary 
supplies,  provided  for  the  ever  present  guests,  ruled  the 
servants  and  maids,  and  cared  for  the  physical  wants  of  the 
children.  The  house  was  truly  Kate's  domain,  and  very 
seldom  did  Luther  take  any  part  in  the  management  of  its 
affairs.  In  fact,  he  had  neither  the  time  nor  the  inclination 
for  these  things. 

The  simplicity  of  living  which  he  had  practised  in  the 
convent  he  kept  up  in  his  own  home.  As  a  rule,  plain,  but 
wholesome  food  was  served  to  the  family.  Only  on  special 
occasions  would  finer  food  be  seen  on  his  table.  In  both 
eating  and  drinking  he  was  moderate.  When  away  from 
home   and    dining   more   elegantly,   he   would   write   to   his 


lutheb's  family.  ][9 

Kate  and  tell  lier  how  well  he  liked  his  meals  at  home.  At 
times,  when  sorely  pressed  with  work,  he  would  lock  himself 
lip  in  his  study,  and  even  forget  all  about  his  meals.  The 
little  physical  exercise  which  he  permitted  himself,  and  which 
he  certainly  needed,  he  sought  in  his  garden  or  at  the  turner's 
lathe  together  with  his  faitiiful  old  servant  Wolfgang  Sie- 
berger. 

Luther's  family  consisted  of  six  children.  The  oldest 
was  Hans,  who  was  born  on  June  7,  1526.  He  studied  law 
and  became  counselor  at  the  court  at  Weimar.  Elizabeth 
died  in  early  infancy.  To  a  friend  Luther  wrote :  "Elizabeth 
bade  us  farewell  to  go  to  Christ,  through  death  to  life/' 
To  another  he  wrote:  "She  left  me  with  a  strangely  ill, 
almost  effeminate  heart,"  so  deeply  did  the  death  of  his 
little  babe  touch  this  great  man.  On  May  4,  1529,  his  little 
darling  Magdalene  was  born.  She  was  a  gentle  and  pious 
child,  and  never  caused  her  father  to  be  angry  with  her. 
Returning  from  a  recreation  trip  in  1542,  he  found  his 
darling  seriously  ill.  She  longed  to  see  her  brother  Hans, 
who  was  attending  school  at  Torgau.  So  Hans  was  brought 
home.  Piously  resigned  to  the  will  of  God,  Luther  saw  her 
strength  fail  her,  and  prayed  to  God :  "I  love  her  exceedingly 
well;  but,  gracious  God,,  if  it  is  Thy  will  to  take  her,  I  will 
gladly  know  her  to  be  with  Thee."  Shortly  before  she  died 
he  asked  her,  "Magdalene,  my  little  daughter,  you  would  like 
to  remain  here  with  your  father,  and  you  would  also  gladly 
go  to  your  heavenly  Father?"  She  answered,  *^*Yes,  kindest 
father,  as  God  wills."  While  Luther  knelt  before  her  bed, 
weeping  bitterly  and  praying  for  her  delivery,  she  breathed 
her  last.  His  next  son  was  Martin.  He  studied  theology, 
but  never  held  a  position.  He  was  sickly,  and  died  at  the 
age  of  thirty-three.  Paul,  the  youngest  son,  studied  medicine, 
and  became  a  physician  of  good  reputation.  His  youngest 
child  was  IMargaret.  Of  Paul  and  Margaret  there  is  posterity 
living  in  our  time.  ^lartin  never  married,  ;ind  H;ni-^'-;  only 
daughter  died  childless. 

Besides  these  children   we  tind  in  Luthei*'s   home  many 


20  lutheb's  family. 

of  his  nephews  and  nieces.    As  eleven  of  these  had  lost  their 
parents,  he  brought  them  up  as  his  own  children. 

Luther's  love  of  children  and  his  appreciation  of  their 
childish  joys  and  ways  is  very  beautifully  shown  in  his  letter 
to  Hans.  As  this  is  without  a  doubt  a  classic  piece  of 
juvenile  literature,  we  reproduce  it  here  in  whole  as  trans- 
lated by  Preserved  Smith. 

To  Hans  Luther  at  Wittenberg. 

Castle  Coburg,  June  19,  1530. 

Grace  and  peace  in  Christ,  dear  little  son.  I  am  glad 
to  hear  that  you  are  studying  and  saying  your  prayers.  Con- 
tinue to  do  so,  my  son,  and  when  I  come  home,  I  will  bring 
you  a  pretty  present. 

I  know  a  lovely,  i^leasant  garden,  where  many  children 
are;  they  wear  golden  jackets,  and  gather  nice  apples  under 
the  trees,  and  pears,  and  cherries,  and  purple  plums,  and 
yellow  plums,  and  sing  and  run  and  jump,  and  are  happy, 
and  have  pretty  little  ponies  with  golden  reins  and  silver 
saddles.  I  asked  the  man  who  owned  the  garden  whose 
children  they  were.  He  said,  "They  are  the  children  who 
say  their  prayers,  and  study,  and  are  good."  Then  said  I, 
"Dear  man,  I  also  have  a  son,  w^iose  name  is  Hans  Luther: 
may  he  come  into  the  garden,  and  eat  the  sweet  apples  and 
pears,  and  ride  a  fine  pony,  and  play  with  these  children  ?'' 
Then  the  man  said,  "If  he  says  his  prayers  and  is  good,  he 
can  come  into  the  garden,  and  Phil  and  Justy,  too;  and  when 
they  all  come,  they  shall  have  whistles  and  drums  and  fifes, 
and  dance,  and  shoot  little  cross-bows."  Then  he  showed  me 
a  fine,  large  lawn  in  the  garden  for  dancing,  where  hang 
real  golden  whistles  and  fine  silver  cross-bows.  But  it  was 
yet  early,  and  the  children  had  not  finished  eating,  and 
I  could  not  wait  to  see  them  dance,  so  I  said  to  the  man, 
"My  dear  sir,  I  must  go  away  and  write  at  once  to  my  dear 
little  Hans  about  all  this,  so  that  he  will  say  his  prayers, 
and  study,  and  be  good,  so  that  he  may  come  into  the 
garden.     And  he  has  an  auntie,  Lena,  whom  he  must  bring 


LUTHER'S    FAMILY.  21 

with  him,"  Then  the  man  said,  "All  right,  j^o  JJ-nd  tell  him 
about  it."  So,  dear  little  Hans,  study  and  say  your  prayers, 
and  tell  Phil  and  Justy  to  say  their  prayers  and  study,  too, 
so  you  may  all  come  into  the  garden  together.  God  bless  you. 
Give  Auntie  Lena  my  love  and  a  kiss  from  me. 

Your  loving  father, 

Martin  Lutiikr. 

Delightful  were  the  social  evenings,  when  Luther  would 
forget  all  the  worries  of  his  labors,  and  the  children  would 
gather  about  their  parents,  together  with  the  other  members 
of  the  family.  These  evenings  were  spent  with  singing  and 
cheerful  talk.  For  one  of  the  many  happy  Christmas 
evenings  that  the  family  si)ent  together  with  Melanchthon 
and  others  Luther  had  composed  our  glorious  Christmas  song 
"From  Heav'n  Above  to  Earth  I  Come."  Some  days  before 
he  had  been  in  deep  meditation  over  this  wonderful  event, 
when  his  wife  Kate  had  asked  him  to  mind  the  baby  a  little, 
as  it  was  impossible  for  her  to  attend  to  all  her  duties.  Still 
having  his  mind  on  the  Gospel  story,  he  began  to  rock  the 
cradle.  The  mechanical  swing  of  the  cradle  went  back  and 
forth,  while  in  his  mind  he  saw  the  events  of  Bethlehem's 
field  pass  before  it.  The  child  rested  quietly.  It  reminded 
him  of  the  Child  in  the  manger  and  the  song  of  the  angels. 
Unconsciously  his  musical  nature  was  moved;  he  began  to 
hum  to  the  time  of  the  swinging  cradle;  he  finally  began  to 
sing,  and  his  song  was  our  well-known  "From  Heav'n  Above 
to  Earth  I  Come."  On  Christmas  Eve  he  sang  it  to  the 
children,  and  soon  they,  too,  learned  it,  and  all  sang  it 
to  the  glory  of  the  new-bom  Babe,  while  Luther  furnished 
the  accompaniment  to  it  on  his  lute. 

Luther's  parents  often  visited  their  famous  son,  but  never 
lived  with  him.  When  they  were  very  old,  he  wished  to  take 
them  into  his  own  home,  and  to  repay  them  for  what  they 
had  done  for  him  during  his  childhood.  However,  they  kept 
up  their  own  home  in  Mansfeld.  His  father  died  while 
Luther  was  at  the  Castle  Coburg,  in  1530,  and  his  mother 


22  ltjthee's  family. 

a  year  later.  To  each  of  them  he  sent  a  comforting  letter 
before  they  died. 

Among  the  many  guests  who  enjoyed  Luther's  hospitality 
for  a  longer  or  shorter  time  were  Johann  Mathesius,  Hierony- 
mus  Weller,  Veit  Dietrich,  and  G.  Roerer.  Mathesius  was 
the  fii'st  biographer  of  Luther.  From  the  pulpit  of  his  church 
in  Joachimsthal  he  related  the  life  of  Luther  as  he  had  in 
part  seen  it  lived,  and  as  it  had  been  told  him  by  others  who 
were  near  to  Luther.  Veit  Dietrich  was  responsible  for  the 
written  account  of  much  of  the  "Table  Talk,"  for  he  would 
often,  even  at  the  table,  write  down  Luther's  remarks.  He 
also  wrote  down  the  sermons  that  Luther  preached  to  his 
family  when  illness  kept  him  out  of  the  pulpit  in  church. 
Weller  was  tutor  to  little  Hans. 

It  is  strange  to  see  how  in  our  day  Luther's  glorious 
books  and  treatises  are  overlooked  more  or  less  (nearly  always 
more  by  those  not  of  the  Lutheran  faith),  while  his  "Table 
Talk"  is  quoted  as  the  book  which  really  shows  Luther  up 
best.  It  is  true,  his  conversation  at  table  was  free  and  un- 
concerned. It  touches  many  and  various  topics.  It  is  very 
interesting.  It  was  rarely  premeditated,  and  nearly  always 
occasioned  by  some  remark  or  question  of  one  of  his  guests. 
It  was  not  written  by  Luther,  and  never  printed  with  his 
consent,  but,  as  stated  above,  by  those  who  heard  him  talk 
at  table.  He  did,  however,  either  during  the  meal  or  imme- 
diately after  it,  expound  the  Eighth  and  Twenty-third  Psalms 
and  also  chapters  8  to  18  of  Matthew,  to  assist  Weller  in 
his  theological  lectures.  These  expositions  were  later  cor- 
rected by  Luther  and  printed  with  his  approval. 

Luther's  income  never  was  large.  As  a  monk  he  depended 
for  his  living  on  the  resources  of  the  convent.  He  refused 
to  accept  pay  from  his  publishers,  although  they  grew  rich 
from  the  rapid  sales  of  his  books.  His  services  to  the  uni- 
versity also  were  really  gratis,  as  he  did  not  collect  the 
customary  fees  from  his  students.  Neither  did  his  position 
as  city  pastor  bring  him  any  fixed  remuneration.  The  Elector 
of  Saxony  had  at  first  given  him  a  yearly  compensation  of 


luthek's  family.  23 

300  gulden,  equal  to  from  four  to  six  times  as  much  in  our 
money.  He  also  made  him  a  present  of  the  former  convent, 
so  that  he  might  use  it  as  his  own  private  home.  Later  on 
Luther  bought  a  little  house  near  his  home  and  three  gardens, 
and  in  1540  the  little  country  estate  of  Zuelsdorf  for  610 
gulden.  The  convent,  which  had  not  been  completely  built 
up,  he  finished,  and  the  city  council  sent  him  stone  and 
lime  for  this  purpose.  The  King  of  Denmark  gave  him  an 
honorary  salary  of  50  gulden  per  annum  during  his  last 
years.  Some  noblemen  regularly  sent  him  supplies  for  the 
table,  and  others  gave  him  costly  presents  of  goblets,  chains, 
and  rings.  Luther  estimated  the  value  of  these  presents  at 
1,000  gulden.  But  as  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  pay  the 
entire  purchase  price  for  the  Zuelsdorf  property,  he  states  in 
1542  that  he  was  indebted  to  the  amount  of  460  gulden.  His 
income  had  in  time  increased,  but  so  had  also  his  expenses 
and  his  charities,  and  after  his  death  Kate  was  obliged  to 
take  roomers  and  boarders  to  make  her  living.  So  Luther, 
while  he  probably  had  a  chance  to  make  a  fortune,  never 
did  it.  He  was  content  to  have  his  daily  bread,  and  would 
not  seek  the  wealth  of  this  world.  He  was,  first,  last,  and 
all  the  time,  the  servant  of  God,  preaching  the  righteousness 
that  avails  before  God. 

Luther's  family  has  ever  been  the  ideal  of  the  Evangelical 
Lutheran  pastor's  home.  Since  the  Reformation  the  pastor 
has  again  become  a  man  of  family.  He  no  longer  lives  in 
the  seclusion  of  a  wrongfully  called  higher  state.  He  lives 
as  other  men.  His  family  life  is  an  example  to  his  flock; 
In  his  family  the  Word  of  God  rules.  Christian  conduct  is 
observed,  and  Christian  ideals  followed  both  as  to  rearing 
and  educating  of  children.  The  family  learns  and  lives  its, 
faith,  as  it  was  done  in  Luther's  family. 


24  iUTHER'S    SUCCESSIVE   APPEALS. 

Luther's  Successive  Appeals. 

The  Most  Momentous  Period  of  Luther's  Life. 

1517—1521. 

(Reference,  freely  used:    Martin  Luther;   His  Life  and  Works,  hy 

Peter  Bayne,  Cassell  &  Co.) 

Rev.  C.  C.  Morhart,  Cleveland,  O. 

"There  was  a  reformation  in  Luther,  as  well  as  a  Refor- 
mation by  Luther."  When  Luther  published  the  theses,  he 
was  sure  that  he  stood  on  the  Bible  and  the  ancient  faith  of 
the  Church.  He  did  not,  however,  see  how  much  the  Church 
had  departed  from  the  Bible  and  Christian  truth.  That 
knowledge  came  to  him  gradually  during  a  period  of  conflict 
which  ended  only  with  his  excommunication  from  the  Church 
and  the  final  emphatic  refusal  on  his  part  to  accept  the 
authority  of  the  pope  or  the  authority  of  church-councils 
against  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures. 

Luther's  conflict  with  human  authority  and  his  firm  ad- 
herence to  Scripture  is  most  clearly  seen  in  his  successive 
appeals:  1.  from  indulgence-vender  to  the  pope;  2.  from 
the  pope  ill-informed  to  the  pope  better  informed;  3.  from 
the  pope  to  the  council;    4.  from  councils  to  Scriptures. 

The  celebrated  Ninety-five  Theses  against  the  sale  of 
indulgences  had  been  nailed  to  the  door  of  the  Castle  Church 
on  the  31st  day  of  October,  1517.  That  was  the  first  great 
scene  in  Luther's  life.  In  those  theses,  liowever,  Luther  did 
not  doubt  the  pope's  authority.  In  many  of  the  theses  be 
speaks,  with  indirect  appeal,  as  the  candid  friend  of  the  pope. 
"^'Christians  are  to  be  taught  that  the  pope,  if  only  he 
were  acquainted  with  the  cruel  extortions  of  the  indulgence- 
preachers,  would  rather  that  St.  Peter's  Church  were  burned 
to  ashes  than  that  it  should  be  built  up  with  the  skin,  flesh, 
and  bones  of  his  sheep."  Some  of  the  queries,  however,  were 
quite  pungent.  "Why  does  not  the  pope  release  all  souls 
from  purgatory  out  of  sheer  impulse  of  thrice  holy  love? 
Is  not  this  the  most  righteous  of  motives  ?"  And  this  question 
still  rings  on.  If  the  pope  can  release,  why  does  he  not 
release  all  souls  from  purgatory  without  money  and  without 


JLUTHERS    SUCCESSIVE   APPEALS.  25 

price?  Thus  the  theses  spoiled  Tetzel's  track',  but  neverthe- 
less presumed  that  the  pope's  meaning  was  in  accord  with 
orthodox  Catholic  authorities. 

Conflict,  however,  could  not  be  avoided.  The  champions 
of  the  Church's  forgiveness  who  were  opposed  to  God's  for- 
giveness rushed  into  the  fray.  The  fiercest  enemy.  Dr.  Eck, 
launched  a  book  against  Luther.  All  hope  of  peace  within 
the  Catholic  Church  was  destroyed  by  the  folly  of  its 
champions. 

In  self-defense,  Luther  prepared  a  treatise  containing  the 
theses  and  a  conmientary  on  them.  This  treatise  was  Luther's 
deliberate  and  respectful  appeal  from  indulgence-venders  lo 
the  pope.  He  was  firmly  convinced  that,  in  essentials,  the 
Church  was  on  his  side,  and  that  he  was  entitled  to  friendly 
consideration  by  the  pope.  Therefore  he  also  addressed 
a  personal  letter  to  the  pope.  The  treatise  itself  was  of 
comparatively  slight  moment,  but  the  personal  appeal  deserves 
attention. 

Luther  begins  the  letter  by  observing  that  an  evil  report 
has  been  carried  of  him  to  the  ears  of  Leo.  Tie  then  lays 
before  the  pope  a  plain  statement  of  what  ho  has  done.  He 
had  attacked  the  offensive  and  extravagant  preaching  of 
indulgences  because  it  turned  the  authority  of  the  Church 
into  a  scandal  or  a  laughing-stock,  and  filled  uniustructed 
minds  with  the  most  pernicious  and  impious  errors.  He  had 
written  privately  to  his  superiors.  Then  the  idea  had  oc- 
curred to  him  of  publishing  theses  and  challenging  the  evil 
in  public  debates.  The  manner  in  which  the  theses  had 
spread  abroad  had  been,  he  says,  to  him  a  perfect  miracle. 
But  what  was  now  to  be  done?  It  was  beyond  his  power  to 
withdraw  the  theses  from  circulation.  The  best  course  seemed 
to  be  to  put  a  supplementary  comment  ujjon  the  propositions, 
which  he  now  placed  before  "the  most  blessed  father."  Those 
who  had  misunderstood  him  might  now  see  how  reverently 
he  respected  the  authority  of  the  Church  and  the  power  of 
the  keys,  how  false  had  been  the  charges  of  heresy  and 
rebellion  hurled  against  him  by  his  adversaries.  In  con- 
clusion, as  an  expression  of  the  affection  with  which,  from 


26  LUTHER'S    SUCCESSIVE   APPEALS. 

childhood,  he  had  regarded  the  father  of  Christendom,  he 
passionately  declares  his  willingness  to  submit  to  the  judg- 
ment of  Leo  as  the  voice  of  Christ  ruling  in  him. 

This  celebrated  letter  of  appeal  has  been  variously  inter- 
preted. But  it  is  certain  that  Luther  never  kept  his  promise 
to  submit  to  the  pope  with  implicit  submission.  Luther 
himself,  in  subsequent  years,  looked  back  with  bitter  self- 
reproach  upon  what  he  considered  the  besotted  popery  of  the 
letter.  He  had  taken  it  for  granted  that  since  the  most 
majestic  voices  of  the  Church,  such  as  St.  Augustine  and 
St.  Bernard,  spoke  on  his  side,  the  pope  would  be  in  his  favor. 
Instead  of  this,  he  found  that  the  voice  of  Pope  Leo  was  not 
the  voice  of  God.  His  relation  to  the  pope  was  that  of 
a  faithful  officer  to  a  traitorous  commander.  The  pope  had 
even  condemned  him  before  the  treatise  and  the  letter  were 
issued. 

When  the  thunderclap  of  the  theses  reached  the  ears  of 
Pope  Leo,  one  of  his  attendants,  Prierias,  probably  directed 
by  his  master,  at  once  wrote  an  answer  to  them.  Luther 
mentions  the  performance  as  early  as  the  7th  of  January, 
1518,  but  kept  quiet.  News  of  this  attack  was  followed  by 
the  report  that  the  pope  had  appointed  Prierias  and  another 
person  a  commission  to  try  Luther.  Luther  thereupon  de- 
cided to  deal  with  the  reply.  The  champion  of  the  pope  had 
laid  down,  as  one  of  the  grand  foundations  of  his  argument, 
the  following  proposition:  "Whosoever  is  not  imbued  with 
the  doctrine  of  the  Roman  Church  and  the  Poman  pontiff,  as 
the  infallible  rule  of  faith,  from  which  even  Holy  Scripture 
draws  its  strength  and  authority,  is  a  heretic."  According  to 
this,  the  Church  of  Rome  and  the  pope  take  precedence  of 
Scripture.  Luther  challenged  the  right  of  any  man,  or  body 
of  men,  to  exert  authority  over  the  Bible.  Thus  the  Reforma- 
tion introduced  nothing  new.  Roman  Catholics  who  claim 
that  Protestantism  must  be  wrong  because  it  introduced 
something  new  cannot  charge  Luther's  appeal  to  the  original 
inspiration  with  introducing  a  newer  thing  than  the  Bible. 
The  open  Bible  was  the  great  principle  restored  to  the  world 
by  Luther. 


tUTHEB'S    SUCCESSIVE   APPEALS.  27 

Justice  required  an  impartial  hearing  and  a  fair  trial. 
Here  was  a  commission  whose  head  had  attacked  Luther 
as  a  heretic,  and  which  also  cited  him  to  appear  at  Rome 
within  sixty  days  to  take  his  trial.  This  llagrancy  caused 
Luther  to  disregard  both  the  court  and  the  sununons.  His 
willingness  to  submit  to  the  judgment  of  the  pope  could  not 
include  submission  to  such  a  judge.  With  prompt  decision 
he  took  steps  to  secure  that  he  be  tried  in  Germany.  This 
was  effected  by  Frederick,  the  Electoral  Prince  of  Saxony. 
The  place  was  to  be  Augsburg;  the  judge.  Cardinal  Cajetan. 
But  Luther  refused  to  wait  upon  the  cardinal  until  a  safe- 
conduct  was  provided. 

The  discussions  were  destined  to  lead  to  a  new  appeal 
from  the  pope  ill-informed  to  the  pope  better  informed.  At 
fii'st  the  cardinal  was  disposed  to  dismiss  Luther  with  smiles 
if  only  he  would  acknowledge  the  sanctity  and  authority  of 
the  pope  and  the  Church,  apologize  for  words  rashly  spoken, 
and  permit  himself  to  be  muzzled.  Luther,  of  course,  was 
unmoved.  He  told  the  cardinal  that  he  would  gladly  recant 
if  his  error  were  brought  home  to  him.  He  maintained  that 
the  Church  and  the  best  Catholic  authorities  were  on  his  side, 
and  that  it  must  be  proved  that  they  were  against  him.  He 
declined  to  take  the  pope's  personal  word  in  place  of  proof 
from  the  Scripture.  The  cardinal,  however,  declined  to 
enter  upon  any  attempt  to  convince  Luther  that  he  had  been 
in  error,  and  simply  insisted  that  Luther  recant.  But  grad- 
ually he  was  drawn  into  an  exchange  of  arguments.  Why 
should  not  a  mighty  and  learned  cardinal  grant  a  few  words 
of  irresistible  logic  to  confound  a  puny  monk?  He  con- 
descended to  show  that  the  pope  could  grant  indulgences 
because  he  had  at  his  disposal  a  treasure  of  merit  which  could 
be  dealt  out,  whether  to  living  or  to  dead.  Luther,  however, 
was  convinced  that  God  alone  could  forgive  sin,  that  the 
Church,  exercising  the  power  of  the  keys,  could  only  recog- 
nize what  God  had  done,  and  that  a  treasury  of  merit,  distinct 
from  the  power  of  the  keys,  was  a  mere  fiction.  The  only 
and  infinite  treasury  is  the  treasury  of  Christ's  merits.  The 
blood  of  Christ,  and  not  the  fictitious  treasury  of  the  pope. 


28  Luther's  successive  appeals. 

cleanseth  us  from  all  sin.  In  reply  to  this,  the  cardinal  hit 
upon  a  short  and  easy  method  to  silence  Luther.  "Pope 
Clement,"  he  cried  out,  "had  expressly  declared  that  the 
merits  of  Christ  were  the  treasure  of  indulgences."  The 
debate,  therefore,  was  at  an  end;  he  absolutely  declined  to 
have  any  more  discussion  on  a  matter  which  had  been  decided 
by  a  pope.  When  Luther  continued  to  press  for  further  hear- 
ing, the  cardinal  finally  consented  to  grant  Luther  to  reply  in 
writing.  But  \^'hen  Luther  presented  his  defense  of  the  doc- 
trine of  pardon  by  the  grace  of  God,  not  by  letter  of  papal  in- 
dulgence, the  cardinal  fell  back  upon  his  position  that  Pope 
Clement  had  settled  the  matter.  As  often  as  Luther  at- 
tempted to  speak,  the  cardinal  bellowed  him  down.  What 
was  Luther  to  do?  Suddenly  elevating  his  voice,  he  cried 
out  with  a  vehemence  that  cowed  his  opponent  enough  to 
make  him  listen  that,  if  Pope  Clement  could  be  shown  to 
have  meant  the  merits  of  Christ  to  be  the  treasure  of  indul- 
g-ence,  he,  Luther,  would  recant. 

The  cardinal  scarcely  believed  his  ears.  He  soon  broke 
out  into  ecstasy.  Here  is  the  book,  then;  here  are  the  very 
words  of  Pope  Clement ;  now  subside,  thou  preposterous  little 
hornet  of  a  monk!  Cajetan  himself  reads  aloud,  with  exul- 
tation, the  very  words  in  which  Pope  Clement  affirms  that 
Christ  by  the  merits  of  His  Passion  "acquired  the  treasure 
of  indulgence."  But  Luther  cried  out  at  once:  H  Christ  by 
the  merits  of  His  Passion  acquired  the  treasure,  then  the 
merits  could  not  be  the  treasui*e.  The  price  of  a  thing  and 
the  thing  itself  were  as  distinct  as  any  two  things  could  be; 
the  two  were  no  more  the  same  than  a  cardinal's  hat  and 
the  price  paid  for  it  were  the  same;  it  was  one  thing  to  be 
a  treasure,  and  another  to  acquire  a  treasure.  The  pope's 
treasure  was  not  the  treasure  of  Christ's  merits;  hence  in- 
dulgences and  their  sale  were  not  of  Christ,  but  fictitious. 
The  laugh  was  clearly  upon  the  side  of  the  little  friar.  At 
this  pass  the  cardinal,  having  lost  everything,  also  lost  his 
temper,  and  told  Luther  to  get  out  of  his  sight.  And  thus 
ended  the  second  memorable  scene  in  the  life  of  Luther.  — 

On  that  same  14th  day  of  October,  1518,  Luther,  under 


LUTHEIK  S    SUCCESSIVE   APPEALS.  29 

the  advice  of  shrewd  lawyers,  drew  up  a  concise  and  energetic 
appeal  from  the  pope  ill-informed  to  the  pope  to  he  letter 
informed.  What  Luther  complained  of  was  the  cardinal's 
obstinate  refusal  to  argue  the  question  in  dispute  fairly  on 
its  merits.  Towards  the  pope  Luther  had  striven  to  maintain 
a  sentiment  of  loj'al  hope. 

On  his  homeward  journey  Luther  received  the  copy  of 
an  order  which  tlie  pope  had  sent  to  the  cardinal,  directing;' 
him  to  arrest  Luther,  and  convey  him  to  Home  as  a  heretic 
unless  he  recanted.  It  is  not  certain  that  the  cardinal  re- 
ceived the  order  before  the  meeting,  but  he  certainly  did  not 
dare  to  carry  it  out.  The  pope  had  blundered  again,  as  he 
had  done  when  he  at  first  had  considered  the  theses  a  mere 
squabble  among  monks,  and  also  when  he  delegated  Prierias 
to  mcxldle  with  the  matter.  Xor  did  better  information 
<'liange  him. 

The  following  events  led  to  Luther's  appeal  from  the  poi)e 
to  the  council.  The  worsted  cardinal  proceeded  to  unfold 
all  the  resources  of  his  anger.  In  a  letter  to  the  Elector 
Frederick  he  demanded  that  Luther  be  delivered  up  for  trans- 
mission to  Rome,  or,  at  least,  expelled  from  his  country. 
This  letter  was  forwarded  by  the  Elector  to  Luther.  In  reply, 
Luther,  having  been  asked  to  relinquish  his  errors,  demanded 
to  be  illuminated  as  to  what  those  errors  were.  The  cardinal 
had  mentioned  that  it  was  an  error  on  the  part  of  Luther 
to  hold  that  the  recipient  of  a  sacrament  must  be  a  believer 
in  the  sacrament  to  be  benehted  by  it.  Luther  stated  that 
he  could  not  yield  on  this  point.  For  if  the  priest  by  his 
consecrating  formula  could  make  the  sacrament  an  unfailing 
channel  of  salvation,  regardless  of  the  spiritual  state  of  those 
who  receive  it,  then  salvation  is  of  the  i)riest,  and  the  whole 
system  of  the  Roman  C^atholic  Church  depends  upon  that. 
But  if  it  is  the  grace  of  God,  accepted  by  faith,  which  saves, 
by  means  of  the  sacrament  or  the  Word,  then  Luther,  to  save 
his  life,  could  not  give  up  his  position. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  new  and  terrible  thoughts  were 
crowding  upon  Luther.  lie  was  amazed  that  such  men  as 
Pope  Leo  and  his  followers  should  rule  the  Church.     Already 


30  Luther's  successive  appeals. 

he  suspected  the  pope  of  being  the  Antichrist  foretold  by 
the  Scriptures.  There  were  indications  that  the  pope  would 
try  to  kill  him.  The  appeals  had  been  futile.  Therefore 
Luther  resolved  not  to  place  himself  in  the  pope's  power. 
To  secure  the  legality  of  his  position  he  drew  up  an  appeal 
to  a  council.  The  points  involved  were  points  which  con- 
cerned the  whole  Church ;  the  Church  therefore  should  speak 
through  its  representatives  at  a  free  and  general  council. — 
But  that,  too,  was  not  to  be. 

The  friends  of  Luther  now  entreated  him  to  refrain  from 
publishing  accounts  of  his  interviews  with  Cajetan,  or  his 
appeal  to  a  council,  or  any  other  document  likely  to  cause 
trouble  with  Rome.  But  Luther  tells  his  friend  Spalatin 
frankly  that  if  he  remains  in  Wittenberg,  he  will  insist  upon 
liberty  of  speech  and  writing.  Thus  Luther  stood  for  the 
great  modern  principles  of  free  speech  and  a  free  press. 
Luther  also  believed  in  the  separation  of  Church  and  State, 
and  never  relied  on  the  power  of  his  political  friends.  These 
friends,  however,  helped  him  with  magnanimous  forbearance. 

When  the  Elector  Frederick  received  Luther's  masterly 
reply  to  Cajetan's  letter  in  the  form  of  a  letter,  the  prince 
himself  wrote  a  memorable  letter  to  Cajetan,  to  be  forwarded 
with  Luther's  reply.  In  it  the  Elector  tells  Cajetan  that 
Luther  had  been  sent  to  Augsburg  to  receive  a  hearing, 
according  to  Cajetan's  own  promise,  and  not  a  mere  com- 
mand to  retract.  Frederick  cannot  possibly  take  Luther's 
heresy  for  granted,  or  treat  him  as  a  heretic  unless  he  is 
proved  to  be  one.  Others  also  were  disposed  to  doubt  whether 
Luther's  doctrine  was  indeed  heretical.  He  therefore  had 
sent  Cajetan's  letter  to  Luther,  and  now  enclosed  the  reply. 
Frederick,  supported  by  public  opinion,  was  convinced  that 
he  could  not  do  wrong  in  letting  the  Bible  be  seen  by  its 
own  light.  If  the  Elector  had  not  taken  this  position,  the 
main  current  of  modern  history  might  have  flowed  in  a  dif- 
ferent channel. 

Cajetan  having  failed,  the  pope  appointed  Charles  von 
Miltitz,  a  German  gentleman  resident  in  Rome,  to  solve  the 
Luther  problem.     This  new   envoy  proceeded  to   Germany, 


lutheb's  successive  appeals.  31 

and  had  several  unsuccessful  interviews  with  Luther.  His 
conduct  was  irreproachable;  but  Luther  never  changed  his 
belief  that  the  mission  was  hollow.  The  messages  from  Rome 
were  too  murderously  severe,  the  professions  of  Miltitz  were 
too  friendly.  The  envoy,  however,  repudiated  Tetzel,  and 
acknowledged  that,  in  the  matter  of  indulgences,  Luther  had 
been  in  the  right.  The  negotiations  ended  in  an  arrangement 
that  Luther  should  have  his  case  decided  by  the  bishop  of 
Salzburg,  and  that,  in  the  mean  time,  he  should  suspend 
his  opposition  if  the  attacks  against  him  were  also  suspended. 

There  was,  however,  no  suspension  of  controversy.  It 
was  inevitable  that  there  should  be  a  reaction  against  the 
onward  impulse  communicated  by  Luther.  The  first  shock 
between  reform  and  reaction  was  the  Leipzig  disputation. 
The  combat  was  to  be  between  Eck  and  Carlstadt,  but  since 
Eck  in  writing  aimed  his  thrusts  at  Luther  and  not  against 
Carlstadt,  Luther  determined  to  take  part  in  the  argumenta- 
tion on  the  side  of  Carlstadt.  His  inquiry  into  the  origin 
and  grounds  of  the  pope's  power  had  led  him  to  conclude  that 
the  Church  of  Rome  had  no  divine  right  to  superiority  over 
other  churches.  Although  he  had  no  objection  to  admit 
a  primacy  of  the  pope  under  certain  qualifications,  he  divined 
that  the  pope  who  reigned  in  the  Roman  court  was  the  true 
Antichrist,  Thus  the  question  between  Luther  and  Eck  was 
the  question  of  the  pope  and  the  Church.  The  shrewdest 
Romanists,  however,  convinced  that  their  best  policy  was 
silence,  disapproved  of  the  discussion. 

The  disputation  at  Leipzig  began  on  the  27th  of  June, 
1519,  and,  like  the  theses  and  the  appearance  before  Cajetan, 
constituted  a  memorable  scene  in  the  life  of  Luther.  Eck 
defended  the  portentous  error,  which  had  for  a  thousand 
years  kept  the  mind  of  Europe  in  thraldom,  that  the  pope 
was  the  successor  of  St.  Peter,  upon  whom  Christ  Himself 
had,  in  words  recorded  by  St.  Matthew,  conferred  the  primacy 
of  the  Church,  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  The  pope, 
like  Christ,  must  therefore  be  king  over  the  kings  of  the 
world.  All  who  refuse  to  submit  to  him  pass  beyond  the 
pale  of  salvation.     And  this  view,  he  averred,  was  supported 


32  Luther's  successive  appeals. 

during  many  ages  by  a  procession  of  illustrious  fathers  and 
divines.  Against  this,  Luther  contended  that  Christ  governs 
now,  and  is  the  sole  King  of  the  Church,  who  has  not  dele- 
gated Plis  divine  right  to  any  man,  any  church,  or  any 
aggregate  of  churches.  But  this  does  not  exclude  church- 
government,  or  unity,  or  order  and  regulation,  or  natural 
leadership.  The  principles  of  church-government  exclude 
lordship,  and  include  the  spiritual  equality  of  Christians. 
The  Church  of  Rome  might,  however,  by  human  right,  in 
virtue  of  a  natural  qualification,  conduct  the  administration 
of  the  whole  in  virtue  of  a  natural  qualification,  as  the  church 
at  Jerusalem  at  first  had  held  the  lead  because  it  possessed 
the  most  eminent  men  and  rendered  the  most  excellent 
service.  A  fixed  papacy-  was  not  Christ's  conception  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  And  thus  the  Protestant  Church  to-day 
recognizes  no  lordship  in  the  Church,  neither  papal  nor 
Lutheran.    Lordship  in  the  Church  is  Romanism. 

A  new  turn  to  the  debate  was  given  by  Luther's  view 
that  men  are  free  to  proclaim  the  Gospel  according  to  the 
light  of  conscience  and  of  the  Bible.  This  was  a  view  that 
had  been  held  by  some  whom  fervent  papists  looked  upon  as 
heretics.  Accordingly,  Eck,  as  Cajetan  had  done,  took  a  new 
departure,  and  blandly  inquired  if  this  view  did  not  bring 
Luther  into  association  with  the  heretics  of  Bohemia,  Luther 
felt  the  blow.  He  refused  to  be  identified  with  the  Bo- 
hemians, but  added  that  among  the  articles  of  Hus  were 
"many  whose  character  was  plainly  and  superlatively  Chris- 
tian." The  assemblage  held  its  breath.  "That  is  insanity!" 
exclaimed  Duke  George  of  Saxony.  Hus  had  died  by  fire 
as  an  enemy  of  God  and  man ;  it  was  the  Council  of 
Constance  that  had  sent  him  to  the  stake.  It  seemed  plain 
that  Luther  must  be  a  patron  of  heresy  and  anarchy.  Eck, 
having  the  advantage  of  being  on  the  popular  side,  denounced 
as  damnable  the  teaching  of  Hus  and  Wyclif,  that  acceptance 
of  Roman  supremacy  was  not  necessary  to  salvation.  It 
became  plain  that  the  stormy  discussion  could  lead  to  no 
agreement.  Luther  had  not  yet  learned  by  sad  experience 
how  hard  men  are  to  convince,  how  difiicult  to  teach. 


LUTHER  S    SUCCESSIVK    AI'I'KALS.  33 

The  Leipzig  disputation  was  a  landmark  in  the  history 
of  the  Reformation  because  it  afforded  Luther  occasion  for 
the  clear  statement  of  his  view  of  the  Church.  It  can  easily 
be  seen  that  Luther's  scheme  of  the  Church  was  that  of  the 
New  Testament.  The  disputation  is  also  notable  on  account 
of  Lutliei*'s  first  public  recognition  of  IIus  as  forerunner.  In 
speaking  a  clear,  bold  word  for  Hus,  Luther  struck  at  council 
as  w^ell  as  pope,  virtually  denying  infallibility  to  both,  virtu- 
ally asserting  that  there  is,  from  both,  an  appeal  to  the 
court  of  conscience  and  the  Wo7'd  of  God.  The  debate  also 
impelled  Lutlier  into  more  thoroughgoing  opposition  to  the 
pope.  He  began  to  see  that  it  was  not  practicable  for  him 
to  w^ork  within  the  Roman  Church  as  an  advocate  of  freedom 
and  the  Bible,  and  that  it  was  his  duty  to  assail  Babylon 
from  without.  The  right  of  private  judgment,  that  great 
principle  established  again  by  Luther,  was  ever  firmly  main- 
tained by  him  even  to  a  break  with  Rome. 

Luther's  new  attitude  toward  Rome  w^as  revealed  in  the 
publication  of  his  Address  to  the  Nobles  and  People  of 
Germany.  This  address,  if  weighed  in  the  scales  of  reason, 
would  overbalance  that  of  many  a  famous  battle.  At  the 
outset  he  breaks  down  three  rampart  walls  of  Rome.  The 
first  is  the  claim  of  the  pope  and  his  priests  to  a  superiority 
of  the  body  of  Christians.  The  second  is  the  claim  of  the 
pope  to  interpret  Scripture  and  rule  in  its  name.  The  tliird 
is  the  claim  of  the  pope  that  all  proceedings  with  a  view  to 
reform  are  wrong  unless  they  are  initiated  by  him.  Then 
he  states  the  work  a  general  council  should  undertake.  In 
turn  he  then  treats  of  papal  pretenses,  celibacy  of  the  clergy, 
mechanical  prayers,  and  church-festivals,  miracle-shrines, 
papal  dispensations.  Antichrist,  heretics,  and  death  by  fire, 
university  reform  and  Aristotle,  economical  matters,  agri- 
culture and  trade,  gorging  and  guzzling,  the  social  evil,  — 
closing  words.  From  this  publication  may  be  dated  the  com- 
mencement of  that  sovereignty  over  the  hearts  and  minds 
of  his  countrymen  which  Luther  has  always  held.  Luther 
became  the  educator  of  the  masses  and  eventually  the  founder 
Four  Hundred  Year';.  ;j 


34  LUTHER'S    SUCCESSIVE   APPEALS. 

of  the  present  public  school  system,  —  another  great  modern 
principle. 

The  opposition  of  the  papal  party  now  reached  a  climax. 
Eck,  Luther's  antagonist  at  Leipzig,  had,  in  his  fury,  gone 
to  Rome,  and  raised  all  the  powers  of  the  abyss.  Finally, 
the  pope  issued  the  world-famous  bull  of  excommunication. 
Luther  quickly  made  up  his  mind  concerning  it,  for  he  per- 
ceived that  it  condemned  Christ.  He  was,  at  last,  "quite 
certain  that  the  pope  is  Antichrist,  and  that  the  modern  seat 
of  Satan  has  been  found."  The  bull  condemned  forty-one 
propositions  representing  Luther's  views.  Luther  was  charged 
with  heresy  for  denying  that  the  Church  of  Rome  had  been 
appointed  by  Christ  to  take  precedence  of  all  other  churches 
till  the  end  of  time  in  virtue  of  His  gift  to  Peter.  It  was 
called  heresy  to  say  that  a  pope  has  ever  been  in  error.  One 
of  the  heresies  with  which  Luther  was  charged  possesses 
unusvial  interest  for  the  modern  world.  The  thirty-third 
heresy  of  Luther  is  that  he  said :  "To  burn  heretics  is  against 
the  will  of  God."  For  twelve  hundred  years  the  Church  and 
the  State  had  burned  heretics.  The  proposal  to  repeal  this 
law  was  now  placed  on  the  roll  of  Luther's  infamies.  But 
this  repeal  advocated  by  Luther  is  the  charter  of  intellectual 
and  moral  freedom  for  the  world,  and  must  ever  be  remem- 
bered in  Luther's  praise.  And  Luther  very  fittingly  answered 
the  bull,  not  by  burning  papists,  but  by  burning  the  paper. 

The  area  of  conflict  between  Luther  and  Rome  grew 
constantly  wider,  and  now  whole  nations  were  involved.  But 
Luther  ever  remained  averse  to  the  introduction  of  physical 
force  into  the  Lord's  battle.  He  had  appealed  in  vain  to  men ; 
there  was,  however,  no  appeal  to  arms.  Never  for  a  moment 
did  he  forget  that  the  weapons  of  Christian  force  are  spir- 
itual. Nor  could  Luther  own  the  authority  of  any  earthly 
power  to  dictate  law  to  conscience  contrary  to  the  great  prin- 
ciples of  freedom  of  conscience  and  the  right  of  private 
judgment.  He  set  forth  the  Bible  as  the  only  authority  in 
matters  of  faith,  and  unswervingly  refused  to  recognize  any 
other  authority.  Luther's  position  is  clearly  stated  in  a  letter : 
"By  the  Word  has  the  world  been  conquered;    by  the  Word 


jluther's  successive  appeals.  35 

has  the  Church  been  preserved;  by  the  Word  will  her  breaches 
be  repaired.  And  Antichrist,  as  he  began  without  hand,  so 
he  will  perish  without  hand,  by  the  Word  alone."  He  there- 
fore demanded  that  his  cause  should  be  judged  solely  by 
Scripture.  "Scripture,''  he  said,  in  effect,  "is  the  law  of 
heresy  for  Christendom.  Convince  nie  out  of  Scripture  or 
by  irresistible  reasons  that  my  doctrines  are  heretical.  Then, 
and  only  then,  I  will  recant  them."  Luther's  constant  and 
absolute  appeal  was  to  the  Scrij^tures. 

The  final  test  of  Luther's  Scriptural  position  in  regard 
to  Rome  came  at  the  Diet  of  Worms,  April  IS,  1521.  This 
scene  is  a  separate  chapter.  When  Luther  appeared  at  the 
diet,  he  profoundly  distrusted  the  professions  of  the  papal 
party  on  the  subject  of  free  grace.  He  was  unalterably  con- 
vinced that,  apart  from  all  doctrinal  considerations,  the  yoke 
of  the  papacj^  ought  to  be  broken  from  the  neck  of  Clii'isten- 
dom.  He  had  absolutely  no  doubt  that  the  claim  of  the 
Roman  see  to  declare  the  meaning  of  Scripture,  and  to 
exercise  dominion  of  the  human  spirit,  was  contrary  to  the 
purpose  of  Christ,  and  of  deadly  influence  upon  mankind. 
He  knew  also  that  the  councils  had  erred.  He  could,  there- 
fore, not  concede  that  there  is  upcJn  earth  any  person,  church, 
tribunal,  court,  or  conclave  which  can  infallibly  define  truth. 
Therefore  Luther  declined  to  recant  unless  he  were  refuted 
by  the  testimony  of  Holy  Writ,  and  his  conscience  placed  in 
harmony  with  the  Word  of  God.  He  would  not  do  aught 
against  conscience. 

Thus  Luther  stood  on  the  open  Bible  and  freedom  of 
conscience  —  the  greatest  of  all  religious  principles.  And 
thus  closed  the  grandest  scene  in  Luther's  life.  Thenceforth, 
in  the  providence  of  God,  the  Bible  was  to  rule  supreme. 
And  thus  the  world  to-day,  four  hundred  years  after  the 
beginning  of  the  Reformation,  still  enjoys  the  blessings  which 
it  gave:  freedom  of  speech,  a  free  press,  education  for  the 
masses,  the  separation  of  Church  and  Stnt.-.  tli.-  right  of 
private  judgment,  and  an  open  Bible. 


36  LUTHER   AT   WOBMS. 

Luther  at  Worms. 

Rev.  W.  Broecker.  Pittsburgh.  Pa. 

Since  the  days  of  the  apostles  the  fate  of  the  Church 
never  hung  so  dangerously  in  the  balance  as  at  the  Diet  of 
Worms,  and  never  a  man  in  all  those  fifteen  centuries,  before 
the  Diet  at  Worms,  swung  the  balance  at  the  psychological 
moment  so  decisively  for  the  salvation  of  the  Church  as, 
by  the  infinite  grace  of  God,  did  Luther. 

Great,  indeed,  were  Athanasius  and  Augustine.  Yet  what 
these  and  other  early  champions  of  the  faith  stood  for  were, 
in  the  main,  but  single  doctrines  in  the  structure  of  the 
Christian  religion.  Orthodox  Christendom  yet  accepted  with 
one  accord  the  verdict  of  the  Scriptures,  and  acknowledged, 
with  Athanasius,  Jesus  Christ  the  true  Son,  begotten  of  the 
Father  from  eternity,  and  rallied  around  the  standard  of 
free  grace  raised  by  Augustine. 

But  when  God  sent  Luther,  what  were  the  conditions  in 
the  Church?  What  as  to  grace?  Aye,  grace  there  was,  but 
not  God's  free  grace  in  Jesus  Christ,  —  grace,  not  God-made, 
by  the  blood  of  His  Son,  but  man-made  grace,  made  by  that 
"man  of  sin,"  drunken  with  the  blood  of  the  saints;  grace 
by  fasting,  by  prayers  to  the  saints,  measured  by  the  rosary; 
grace  by  pilgrimages  to  holy  places,  —  and  what  not  ?  Yes, 
even  grace  to  the  amount  that  your  purse  could  stand  the 
tax  the  hawkers  demanded  for  indulgences.  Grace  it  was 
by  the  grace  of  the  Roman  pontiff. 

However,  not  only  had  God's  free  grace  been  supplanted 
by  papal  gi-ace,  Christ  Himself  was  dethroned,  as  far  as  His 
Church  on  earth  was  concerned.  In  His  place  had  risen 
the  usurper  claiming  to  be  the  vicar  of  Christ.  That  "man 
of  sin"  had  truly  come,  whom,  prophesying,  St.  Paul  had  fully 
described  2  Thess.  2,  3.  4.  As  God  on  earth  he  ruled.  The 
nations  w^ere  shackled  with  Rome's  endless  chain  of  ecclesi- 
astical laws  and  rules,  impositions  and  taxes.  The  pope's 
menials  were  ubiquitous.  Like  locusts  his  "spiritual"  agents 
fell  upon  a  country,  devouring  it  and  leaving  nothing  behind 
but  filthy  indulgences.    The  confessional  was  the  chamber  of 


LUTHER    AT    WORMS.  37 

horrors,  in  which  all,  regardless  of  station  or  rank,  were 
subdued  to  the  will  of  Kome.  Hypocrisy  and  intrigue  held 
high  carnival.  Kings  and  princes  were  set  up  or  removed 
at  will,  murder  and  treason  being  no  obstacle.  And  nowhere 
did  vice  in  its  blackest  and  most  nauseating  forms  welter 
and  wallow  in  such  orgies  as  it  did  in  the  very  courts  of  the 
"holy  city."  This  is  but  stating  the  simple,  though  soul- 
distressing  facts  of  history. 

We  ask,  How  could  this  terrible  state  of  aii'airs  couie 
about?  There  is  but  one  answer.  The  very  foundation 
upon  wliicli  alone  Christ  has  founded  His  throne  in  the 
Church,  and  upon  which  alone  rests  man's  salvation,  the 
Word  of  God,  had  been  assailed,  set  at  naught,  destroyed, 
and  supplanted.  Since  the  sixth  century  the  voice  of  God 
had  begun  to  grow  fainter  and  fainter,  till  it  was  finally 
completely  hushed.  God's  temple  now  echoed  with  a  tumul- 
tuous din  of  voices  from  councils,  church-fathers,  and  scho- 
lastics. And  above  all  this  confusion  of  contradicting,  strug- 
gling, battling  was  heard  the  roar  of  Rome.  Having  throttled 
the  Word  of  God,  the  pope  had  succeeded  in  making  his  word 
the  supreme  law  in  Christendom.  Christ  no  longer  si)oke 
to  His  Church  but  through  His  vicar.  True,  the  dogma  of 
the  infallibility  of  the  pope  had  as  yet  not  been  decreed,  — 
that  was  left  for  these  latter  days.  But  practically  the  pope's 
word  was  accepted  by  the  masses  as  the  infallible  Word  of 
Christ.  That  was  the  claim:  As  the  pope  spoke,  so  spoke 
Christ.  Hence,  also  the  demand  that  all  matters  of  Church 
and  State  be  subjected  to  his  review,  and  be  determined  by 
his  decision.  There  was  no  higher  tribunal  for  appeal.  Woe 
to  the  recalcitrant  offender!  Ban,  interdict,  death,  was 
Rome's  vengeance.  We  need  but  remember  Hus  and  Savona- 
rola, the  Waldenses  and  the  Wyclifites. 

After  this  brief  review  we  understand  the  true  sig- 
nificance of  Luther's  trial  at  Worms.  For,  in  reality,  in 
Luther  at  Worms  the  Word  of  God  was  on  trial;  hence, 
Luther's  victory  was  the  victory  of  the  Word  of  God.  Let 
us  see  for  ourselves. 

The    diet    constituted    the    council    of    thr    holy    Roman 


38  LUTHER    AT    WORMS. 

Empire.  Charles  V,  the  youthful  king  of  Spain,  had  but 
recently  been  elected  emperor,  chiefly  through  the  influence 
of  the  aged  Frederick  the  Wise,  Elector  of  Saxon5\  For 
reasons  brought  to  bear  on  him,  he  convoked  his  first  diet 
at  Worms,  Germany,  for  January  28,  1521.  At  Worms  there 
were  assembled  the  dignitaries  not  only  of  the  State,  but  also 
those  of  the  Church:  electors,  princes,  and  estates,  cardinals, 
archbishops,  and  other  ecclesiastical  representatives.  Leo  X 
was  represented  by  a  special  legate,  Aleander.  The  diet, 
however,  was  anything  but  a  harmonious  body.  From  time 
immemorial  there  had  been  a  deep  cleavage  between  the 
secular  and  ecclesiastical  forces,  each  striving  for  supremacy. 
Yet  each  was  a  willing  tool  of  the  other  when  they  believed 
their  own  interests  best  served.  Hence,  distrust,  hypocrisj^, 
and  intrigue  stamf>ed  every  dealing  between  pope  and  em- 
peror. Naturally,  Church  and  State  suffered  alike,  with  this 
distinction,  however,  that  the  true  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
had  become  the  football  of  both,  pope  and  emperor. 

It  was  not  different  at  Worms.  We  behold  there  pope  and 
emperor  each  constantly  veering  and  steering  for  the  best 
wind  to  gain  advantage  over  the  other.  Among  the  many 
vexing  questions  demanding  immediate  attention  from  that 
diet  was  the  one  raised  by  the  monk  of  Wittenberg,  Dr.  Mar- 
tin Luther.  In  reality  it  was  no  longer  a  question,  but 
a  condition.  A  grave  state  of  affairs  throughout  Germany, 
yea,  throughout  Christian  Europe,  had  resulted  from  the 
single-handed  doings  of  this  Augustinian,  professor  at  the 
Wittenberg  University  and  pastor  of  the  Castle  Church. 
True,  humanly  speaking,  Rome  had  nothing  to  fear  from 
the  monk.  Had  he  not  until  now  been  a  most  abjectly  dutiful 
son  of  the  "Holy  Father"?  Was  not  the  very  fact  of  his 
devout  obedience  to  the  Church  the  very  reason  of  his  quick 
promotions  in  holy  orders,  even  to  the  forcing  upon  him  of 
the  degree  of  a  Doctor  of  Divinity,  and  thus  exacting  from 
him  the  oath  to  teach  God's  Word  only,  and  to  defend  it 
against  all  heresies?  And  even  when  posting  those  memo- 
rable Ninety-flve  Theses  against  Tetzel's  shameful  hawking 
of   indulgences,  lie   never   dreamed   that   the  i)ope   could   or 


LUTHER   AT   WORMS.  39 

would  countenance  this  disgraceful  soul-trading  business. 
Rome  treated  the  matter  lightly.  But  Luther's  leaven  was 
working,  and  Tetzel  was  forced  to  decamp.  The  pope  sent 
Cajetan  to  subdue  the  obstreperous  monk,  and  to  bring  him 
in  irons  to  Rome.  But,  vanquished,  the  cardinal  desisted. 
Rome's  ire  was  rising,  for  it  began  to  suspicion  the  possi- 
bilities of  the  strife.  Rome's  prestige  was  suffering.  Luther 
must  be  quieted.  But  how?  The  glib  papal  chamberlain, 
Charles  von  Miltitz,  was  sent,  —  but  for  naught.  Popedom'* 
greatest-champion,  Dr.  Eck,  threw  his  gage  into  the  arena,  — 
but  Eck  gathered  no  laurels.  Luther's  subsequent  book  on 
"The  Babylonian  Captivity  of  the  Church"  completely  un- 
masked the  abominations  of  popery.  Rome  roared.  It  hurled 
the  ban  against  Luther.  Luther  defied  the  pope,  publicly 
burned  the  papal  bull  excommunicating  him,  and  declared 
the  pope  to  be  the  very  Antichrist.  —  Since  that  31st  of 
October,  1517,  momentous  events  had  crowded  each  other. 
European  Christendom  had  become  a  seething  caldron,  with 
Germany  as  a  center.  High  and  low,  princes  and  eccle- 
siastics, burghers  and  peasants,  had  caught  the  new  spirit, 
which  foreshadowed  the  long  looked-for  reformation  of  the 
head  and  members  of  the  Church.  They  recognized  in 
Luther's  battle  their  own  battle,  in  Luther's  fate  either  the 
freedom  from,  or  an  increased  papal  i)rostitution  of,  the 
Church. 

What  was  it  that  caused  this  tremendous  upheaval? 
It  was,  forsooth,  not  the  man  Luther,  poor  Augustinian  that 
he  was.  It  was  that  which  he  stood  for  —  it  was  the  IT'orc/ 
of  God.  That  Word  it  was  of  which  Rome  had  robbed  God's 
people,  but  which  God's  grace  put  into  Luther's  hand  when 
his  soul  was  verging  on  utter  despair  because  of  his  sal- 
vation; the  Word  in  which  his  whole  being  became  wrapped 
up,  and  which,  therefore,  his  students  and  his  parishioners 
must  hear;  the  Word  at  the  head  of  his  Ninety-five  Theses 
against  Tetzel,  saying,  "When  our  Lord  and  blaster  Jesus 
Christ  saj's'';  the  Word  for  which,  again,  he  demanded  from 
Cajetan  and  ^liltitz  free  course,  without  interference  from 
man-made  laws;    tlie  Wi>rd  witli  wliich  popes  and  councils. 


40  LUTHEB   AT   WOEMS. 

as  he  showed  to  the  chagrin  of  the  learned  Eck,  ever  had 
been  at  variance,  and  which  smashes  the  pope's  claim  of 
a  prinlate  when  it  declares,  "One  is  your  Master,  even  Christ, 
and  all  ye  are  brethren"  (Matt.  23,  8)  ;  the  Word  with  which 
Luther  was  breaking  with  sledge-hammer  blows  the  chains 
shackling  the  Church,  in  treatises  like  "The  Liberty  of 
a  Christian"  and  "To  the  Christian  Nobility";  the  Word 
whose  full  light  he  turned  upon  the  infernal  institution  of 
auricular  confession  and  upon  the  diabolical  idolatry  of  the 
Mass,  looming  between  them  appearing  the  unmistakable 
image  of  the  accursed  Antichrist,  the  pope  of  Rome;  the 
Word  for  whose  vindication  Luther,  on  December  10,  1520, 
cast  the  papal  bull  into  the  fire  and  his  own  defy  into 
Rome's  face.  That  Word  of  God  it  was  in  which  was  the 
beginning,  middle,  and  end  of  Luther's  whole  work;  the 
impregnable  citadel,  in  which  he  had  fortified  liimself ;  the 
sole  weapon  he  wielded,  both  in  the  offensive  and  in  the 
defensive.  — 

The  diet  was  convened.  What  was  to  be  done  with 
Luther?  What  about  his  movement  for  reformation?  These 
had  now  come  to  be  the  all-determining  questions.  The  out- 
look was  not  very  propitious,  indeed,  and  the  final  outcome 
was:  Rome's  failure  to  know  the  time  of  its  visitation. 
As  to  Luther,  he  hailed  with  joy  the  great  opportunity  to 
let  his  Lord  and  Master  Jesus  Christ  be  heard  before  so 
representative  a  body.  Thousands  would  hear,  and  return 
home  with  the  tidings  of  the  new  Gospel.  However,  many 
an  obstacle  had  first  to  be  overcome  before  Luther  could 
personally  appear,  and  plead  his  cause  before  the  diet.  Rome 
was  obstinately  opposed  to  giving  the  "heretic"  a  public 
hearing.  Rome  is  semper'  eadem,  always  the  same,  also  in 
this  that  she  loves  to  work  in  the  dark.  Time  and  again,  by 
citing  him  to  Rome,  by  commissioning  Cajetan,  then  Miltitz, 
by  repeatedly  importuning  Frederick  the  Wise,  and  lastly, 
by  calling  the  emperor  to  her  aid,  she  sought  possession  of 
Luther's  person,  in  order  to  deal  with  him  as  she  had  dealt 
with  so  many  other  witnesses  of  the  truth.  Charles  V,  devout 
(^atholic  and  pliable  as  he  was,  here  showed  the  weakness  of 


LUTHER    AT    WOKAIS.  ^^ 

his  character.  He  constantly  was  vacillating  between  self- 
assertion  and  fear  of  Eome.  As  for  him,  the  pope  would 
have  made  short  work  of  the  monk.  But  God  had  also 
among  the  great  of  this  world  ITis  protector  over  His  servant 
Luther.  This  protector  was  the  very  Elector  Frederick  the 
Wise  of  Saxony.  He  would  permit  no  harm  to  come  to  his 
Dr.  Martin.  For  this  reason  his  memory  stands  out  in  hold 
relief  beside  that  of  Luther  in  every  true  history  of  the 
Keformation.  He  forbade  Luther  to  obey  the  summons  to 
appear  at  Kome.  He,  in  company  with  other  German  estates, 
staunchly  demanded  that  Luther  be  heard  personally,  and 
that,  as  a  German  subject,  he  be  heard  on  German  soil,  in 
public  trial.  ^Moreover,  remembering  the  fate  of  John  Hus 
a  century  ago,  Frederick  and  the  German  estates  would  not 
have  Luther  face  the  dangers  at  Worms  unless  he  be  given 
an  imperial  safe-conduct  both  ways,  to  Worms  and  back 
home.  And  forced  to  acknowledge  the  justice  of  the  demands, 
Charles  V  granted  all,  much  to  the  mortification  of  the  pope. 

Thus  Luther  was  summoned  to  appear,  within  twenty-one 
days,  for  trial  at  Worms,  no  later  than  April  16.  Would 
he  go?  Lideed  he  would;  but  not  to  recant;  this  he  might 
just  as  well  do  at  Wittenberg.  And  go  he  did.  On  April  2d 
he  started  in  company  with  several  friends,  the  imperial 
herald  in  the  fore,  on  what  was  more  like  the  triumphal  pro- 
cession of  a  victor  than  the  portentous  journey  of  an  already 
condemned  heretic.  The  papal  representatives  at  Worms 
took  fright.  More  than  ever  they  determined  to  hinder  the 
public  trial.  Once  more  they  put  all  their  power  in  motion 
to  keep  the  Reformer  out  of  Worms,  or  to  undo  the  safe- 
guard. The  friends  of  Luther  feared  for  his  safety.  The 
man  of  God,  however,  continued  undaunted  on  his  way;  and 
to  his  friends  he  wrote:  "H  there  be  as  many  devils  in 
Worms  as  tiles  on  the  roofs,  yet  will  I  enter."  And  April  16, 
at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  he  entered  amid  a  great  con- 
course of  people. 

And  now  for  the  trial.  It  was  set  for  the  evening  of 
the  next  day,  xVpril  IT.  \Vliat  was  Luther  to  be  tried  for? 
Through   friends  hu   liad    an    intimation   that   the  trial   was 


42  LUTHER   AT   WOEMS. 

to  narrow  down  to  three  points,  to-wit,  the  papal  abuses, 
the  authority  of  councils,  and  the  primate  of  the  pope,  — 
all  of  which  he  had  so  valiantly  attacked.  Luther  also  knew 
full  well  that  nothing  but  a  recantation  would  satisfy  his 
enemies.  The  very  citation  to  Worms  had  told  him  so.  He 
came  prepared  to  make  answer  to  the  charges.  —  But  how 
was  the  trial  to  be  conducted?  Since  they  had  been  unable 
to  prevent  Luther  from  personally  appearing  before  the  diet, 
the  papal  cravens  had  agreed  on  a  plan.  Luther,  already 
banned  and  branded  a  heretic,  must  be  given  the  least  pos- 
sible opportunity  to  sjDeak.  "No  open  debate  with  him  must 
take  place.  !X^o  other  privilege  must  be  accorded  him  but 
to  recant.  With  their  wonted  impudence  they  also  con- 
sidered it  beneath  their  dignity  to  acquaint  the  accused  with 
the  exact  mode  of  procedure.  And  purposely*,  to  allow  as 
little  time  as  possible  for  the  trial,  the  hearing  was  set  for 
the  evening. 

The  supreme  hour  in  the  life  of  Luther,  indeed,  for  the 
Reformation  itself,  was  fast  drawing  near.  Four  o'clock 
found  him,  surrounded  by  men  from  all  walks  in  life,  in  the 
antechamber  of  the  assembly-room  of  the  diet.  Finally,  after 
two  hours  of  waiting,  at  six  o'clock,  he  was  called  into  the 
presence  of  the  diet.  For  counsel  his  colleague  Jerome 
Schurf  had  been  delegated  by  his  elector.  Without  much 
ado  the  official  of  the  Archbishop  of  Treves,  Eck,  acting  for 
the  emperor,  put  to  him  two  questions :  1.  Whether  he  ac- 
knowledged these  books  (on  a  bench  beside  him)  to  be  his 
books;  2.  whether  he  would  retract  their  contents,  or  persist 
in  them.  Immediately  Counsel  Schurf  interposed,  and,  as 
a  precaution,  demanded  first  the  reading  of  the  titles  of  the 
books.  Eck  complied,  and  among  others  also  gave  the  titles 
of  writings  which  had  never  been  objected  to. 

Unprepared  though  he  was  for  this  procedure,  Luther  yet 
answered,  in  both  Latin  and  German:  1.  As  to  the  books 
bearing  his  name,  he  acknowledged  them  to  be  his,  and  could 
not  deny  any  of  them.  2.  As  to  his  declaring,  however, 
whether  he  was  ready  to  defend  or  to  recant  everything, — 
this  being  a  question  of  the  faith  and  of  the  salvation  of 


lUTHER    AT   WORMS.  43 

the  souls,  involving-  the  Word  of  God,  the  highest  and  greatest 
treasure  in  heaven  and  earth,  to  be  held  in  all  honor,  indeed, 
by  us,  —  it  would  be  arrogant  and  dangerous  for  him  to 
declare  anything  rashly,  as  he  might  indiscreetly  and  without 
due  thought  assert  and  state  as  true  either  less  than  the  case 
demanded,  or  more  than  would  conform  with  tlie  truth,  both 
subjecting  him  to  the  judgment  of  Christ :  "Whosoever  shall 
deny  Me  before  men,  him  will  I  also  deny  before  My  Father 
which  is  in  heaven."  "Therefore,  I  most  obediently  and  most 
luimbly  pray  your  Imperial  Majesty  for  time  for  considera- 
tion, in  order  that  I  may,  without  injury  to  the  Word  of  God, 
and  without  jeopardizing  my  soul's  salvation,  give  a  correct 
answer  to  the  questions  laid  before  me." 

Thus  Luther.  A  consultation  of  the  emperor  and  the 
princes  resulted  in  the  granting  of  his  petition,  though  Eck 
must  reprimand  him  for  wanting  more  time.  The  next  day 
he  was  to  make  his  declaration,  not,  however,  in  writing, 
but  by  word  of  mouth. 

On  April  18th  the  excitement  was  intenser  and  suspense 
at  a  higher  pitch  than  ever  during  this  whole  period  of  w^orld- 
unrest.  What  would  Luther's  answer  be  to  emperor  and 
]iope  ?  —  As  on  the  preceding  day,  Luther  found  himself 
waiting  from  four  to  six  o'clock  before  he  M^as  admitted  into 
the  presence  of  the  assembly.  Eck  again  opened  the  trial, 
upbraiding  Luther  with  inexcusable  dilatoriness  in  giving 
full  account,  and  then  ])ut  the  question  left  unanswered  the 
day  before,  but  in  a  somewhat  modified  form :  "Wilt  thou 
defend  all  the  books  acknowledged  by  thee  to  be  thine,  or 
at  least  recant  in  part?"  The  question  was  clear-cut,  and 
understood  by  all  because  put  in  both  languages.  And 
Luther?  Modestly,  yet  firmly,  not  overloud,  but  distinctly 
understood  by  all,  he,  in  a  well-considered  speech,  again 
acknowledged  the  books  laid  before  him  the  day  before  as 
his  own,  guarding  himself,  however,  against  any  unauthor- 
ized, surreptitious  alterations,  and  admitting  to  no  one  but 
himself  the  right  to  interpret  his  writings.  As  to  recant- 
ing, —  the  second  question,  —  he  begged  them  to  consider 
that  his  books  were  not  all  of  <>ne  kind.      IFe  divided   them 


44  LUTHEB   AT   WORMS . 

into  three  classes.  In  the  first  class  of  his  books  he  had 
taught  the  Christian  faith  and  good  works  in  so  simple 
and  Christian  a  manner  that  even  his  adversaries  must 
acknowledge  them  as  profitable  and  worthy.  How  dare 
he  recant  these  without  condemning  the  truth  accepted  by 
friend  and  foe?  —  As  to  the  second  class  of  his  books, 
he  had  therein  attacked  the  papacy  and  the  doctrine  of 
papists,  who  with  false  doctrine,  vicious  life,  and  offensive 
example  had  devastated  Christendom  in  body  and  soul,  il^one 
could  deny  that  the  laws  and  doctrines  of  the  pope  had 
ensnared,  burdened,  and  tortured  the  consciences  of  the  faith- 
ful, and  by  unbelievable  tyranny  had  drained  the  German 
nation,  and  was  still  devouring  it;  and  all  this  in  opposition 
to  their  own  decrees,  which  nullified  the  pope's  laws  and 
doctrines  found  at  variance  with  the  Gospel.  How  could  he 
recant  these  books  without  opening  the  gates  wide  to  a  more 
devastating  flood  of  rascality,  and  subjecting  himself  to  the 
charge  of  having  done  so  at  the  command  of  the  emperor 
and  of  the  whole  empire?  "Good  God,  what  a  cloak  of 
rascality  and  tyranny  would  I  then  be !''  Luther  exclaimed.  — 
In  the  third  class  of  his  books  he  had  written  against  indi- 
viduals who  had  shielded  and  defended  the  Roman  tyranny, 
and  had  falsified  and  suppressed  the  divine  doctrine  taught 
by  him.  Here  he  candidly  confessed  to  having  been  some- 
what more  vehement  and  severe  than  was  befitting  religion 
and  profession;  but  he  was  not  a  saint,  nor  arguing  his 
personal  life,  but  about  the  doctrine  of  Christ.  Hence,  he 
could  neither  retract  these  books,  because  thereby  it  would 
come  to  pass  that  with  his  consent  tyranny  and  godlessness 
would  again  rule  and  prevail  and  rage  against  God's  people 
more  violently  and  more  terribly  than  ever  before.  He,  being 
a  mere  man  and  not  God,  however,  could  not  defend  his 
books  otherwise  than  did  his  Lord  and  Savior  His  doctrine, 
who  answered  His  tormentor:  "If  I  have  spoken  evil,  bear 
witness  of  the  evil."  If  the  infallible  Lord  was  willing  to 
hear  witness  against  His  doctrine,  how  much  more  ought  he, 
who  so  easily  may  err,  be  ready  to  do  so,  and  invite  whomso- 
ever would  to  bear  witness  against  his  teachings.    "Therciforo/' 


LCTHEH    AT    WOBMS.  45 

he  proceeded,  "I  beg  through  the  mercy  of  God  your  Imperial 
Majesty,  etc.,  or  wliosoever  can  do  it,  of  high  or  low  station, 
to  bear  witness  to  convince  me  with  prophetic  and  apostolic 
scriptures  that  I  have  erred.  Then,  being  convinced  thereof, 
I  will  be  most  willing  and  ready  to  recant  every  error,  and 
will  be  the  iirst  to  cast  my  booklets  into  the  fire."  Thus,  he 
continued,  having  taken  due  consideration  also  of  the  great 
disturbance  attributed  to  him,  it,  nevertheless,  gave  him  joy 
to  see  the  Word  of  God  taking  its  course  according  to  Christ's 
saying:  "Think  not  that  I  am  come  to  send  peace  on  earth; 
I  came  not  to  send  peace,  but  a  sword.  For  I  am  come  to  set 
a  man  at  variance  against  his  father,"  etc.  (Matt.  10,  34.  35.) 
And  now  he  closecl  with  an  earnest  appeal  to  the  emperor 
and  the  diet  not  to  reject  or  persecute  the  Word  of  God  for 
the  sake  of  promoting  peace  in  the  empire.  Awful,  indeed, 
would  it  be  if  the  young  emperor  thus  began  his  reign, 
because  that  would  determine  also  its  whole  course.  For  God 
"taketh  the  wise  in  their  own  craftiness";  He  "removeth  the 
mountains,  and  they  know  not."  (Job  5,  13;  9,  5.)  This,  he 
adds,  is  not  meant  as  though  they  not  already  knew  these 
things,  but  because  of  his  sense  of  his  bounden  duty  to  the 
German  nation,  to  his  fatherland. 

Thus  spake  Luther  in  German  and  in  Latin.  The  papists 
at  first  were  stupefied.  Because  he  had  asked  for  time,  some 
had  hoped  he  would  recant.  Now  this  defy!  Agitated,  the 
imperial  speaker  reproved  him  for  not  having  spoken  to  the 
point.  Besides,  said  he,  nothing  was  to  be  questioned  or 
disputed  that  councils  had  already  defined,  concluded,  and 
condemned;  it  was  demanded  of  him  to  give  a  simple,  round, 
and  true  answer  whether  he  would  say  "Revoco"  (I  recant) 
or  not. 

Luther  replied:  "Since  your  Imperial  Majesty,  Electoral 
and  Princely  G~races  demand  a  simple,  artless,  true  answer, 
I  will  give  one  which  shall  have  neither  horna  nor  teeth: 
Unless  I  he  overcome  and  convinced  hy  proofs  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  or  hy  manifestly  clear  grounds  and  reasons, — 
for  I  helieve  neither  the  pope  nor  the  councils  alone,  hecau^se 
it  is  an  open  and  Jcnown  fact  that  they  have  often  erred  and 


46  LUTHER   AT   WORMS. 

opposed  each  other,  —  and  I  am  convinced  hy  those  passages 
adduced  and  introduced  hy  me,  and  my  conscience  is  hound 
in  God's  Word,  I  can  or  will  recant  nothing,  since  it  is  neither 
safe  nor  advisahle  to  do  aught  against  conscience.  Here 
I  stand:   I  cannot  do  otherwise.     God  help  me!    Amen.'' 

The  die  was  cast!  The  answer  upon  which  hung  the 
whole  work  of  the  Reformation  was  given.  It  was:  Not 
the  pope,  not  even  church  councils,  but  God's  Word  alone 
must  bind  the  individual  conscience,  must  alone  decide  all 
questions  of  faith  and  life  in  the  Church.  In  vain  Eck 
raved  for  the  authority  and  inerrancy  of  councils;  Luther 
offered  proof  of  error.  In  vain  for  a  whole  week  the  powerful 
in  Church  and  State,  in  private  and  public  conferences,  en- 
deavored to  overwhelm  the  Reformer  with  their  arguments, 
with  cunning,  and  with  open  threats.  In  vain  they  sought 
his  promise  to  submit  to  a  council  which  was  to  be  called. 
Luther's  one  answer  to  all  arguments  and  to  all  propositions 
was:  "Rather  will  I  lose  life  and  limb  than  surrender  God's 
true  and  clear  Word."  As  to  the  outcome  of  the  whole  move- 
ment, he  told  the  Archbishop  of  Treves  to  look  to  Gamaliel's 
answer :  "If  this  counsel  or  work  be  of  men,  it  will  come 
to  naught;  but  if  it  be  of  God,  ye  cannot  overthrow  it." 
(Acts  5,  38.  39.) 

To  the  emperor,  who  in  high  wrath  declared  himself  about 
to  carry  out  the  pope's  bull,  and  conunanded  him  to  betake 
himself  under  the  imperial  safe-conduct  homeward  within 
twenty-one  days,  refraining  from  preaching  or  writing  on 
his  journey,  Luther  sent  humble  thanks  for  the  safe-conduct, 
and  assured  him  that  in  all  his  undertakings  he  had  sought 
nothing  but  a  reformation  according  to  the  Word  of  God; 
excepting  this,  he  was  willing  to  sacrifice  life  and  all  for 
his  country. 

Thus  he  left  Worms  Friday,  April  26.  The  trial  was 
over;  Luther  stood  condemned  before  the  diet.  In  reality 
it  was  the  Word  of  God  which  had  been  condemned.  That 
they  did  not  spill  Luther's  blood  was  not  because  they  did 
not  fully  and  earnestly  desire  to  do  so. 


LUTHER   AT   WOBMS.  4. 7 

What  was  the  immediate  impression  of  the  trial?  ]\rany 
were  won  over  to  Luther  and  his  cause.  The  ^emperor,  how- 
ever, dech^red:  "He  shall  not  make  a  heretic  of  me."  The 
papists  were  incensed  because  Luther  liad  been  permitted  the 
liberty  of  so  comprehensive  an  answer.  Tliey  importuned 
the  emperor  to  break  the  safe-conduct,  and  to  execute  the 
heretic  on  the  spot.  But  the  emperor  would  have  none  of 
that;  German  truthfulness  and  iidelitj'  forbade.  However, 
on  May  20  he  outlawed  the  Augustinian. 

Among  Luther's  friends  there  was  great  rejoicing.  No 
one  was  more  jubilant  than  Luther's  elector,  Frederick  the 
Wise.  He  exclaimed:  "Ah,  how  fine  did  Brother  Martin 
show  liimself!  What  an  excellent  speech  both  in  German 
and  in  Latin  did  he  deliver  before  the  emperor  and  all  the 
estates !  He  was  too  bold  for  me."  When  the  tidings  of 
Luther's  bold  stand  at  Worms  spread,  prayers  and  hymns  of 
thanks  and  praise  went  up  to  the  Lord,  who  had  given  His 
servant  courage  and  boldness  to  stand  unwavering  in  the 
hottest  of  the  battle  against  the  hosts  of  darkness,  to  gain 
the  victory  for  the  Word  of  God.  To  the  friends  of  the  new 
cause  the  hammer-strokes  fastening  the  Ninety-five  Theses 
at  Wittenberg  had  been  like  the  touching  of  the  single  key- 
notes in  the  simple,  sweet  melody  of  the  old  Gospel;  but  the 
melody  had  developed  into  a  fugue,  and  now,  at  Worms,  the 
powerful  finale  was  opening  up  the  grand  organ  of  God's 
Word,  drowning  out  the  discords  pope  and  council  had  intro- 
duced into  the  divine  harmony  of  God's  Temple. 

And  to-day?  Next  to  God's  almighty  grace,  it  is  due  to 
Luther's  firm  stand  in  the  Diet  at  Worms  that  we  even  yet 
triumph  with  him,  "The  Word  they  still  shall  let  remain!" 
For  that  was,  indeed,  the  crucial  test  for  the  man  and  his 
work.  We  shudder  at  the  very  thought  that  Luther  might 
have  wavered,  that  fear  for  his  person  or  a  sense  of  his 
personal  unfitness  to  guide  the  ship  in  the  tremendous  revo- 
lution which  must  surely  follow,  if  his  principles  prevailed, 
or  the  alluring  promises  of  the  Romanists,  might  have  induced 
him  to  change  his  course  and  to  sacrifice  the  principle  of  the 


48  LUTHER    AT    WORMS. 

Word.  Luther  himself  foresaw  and  courageously  sounded 
the  warning  against  the  then  inevitable  dire  consequences. 
Rome's  hatred,  born  of  the  failure  of  the  attempted  reforma- 
tion, would  only  have,  if  possible,  intensified  the  already  well- 
nigh  insuperable  papal  tyranny  over  the  consciences,  over 
the  Church,  over  the  nations. 

God,  in  His  great  mercy,  willed  otherwise.  His  Word 
was  again  to  come  into  its  own.  Luther  was  His  instrument 
in  bringing  it  back.  Luther  at  Worms  signifies  the  open 
Bible  to  the  world.  The  work  of  the  Reformation  had  passed 
its  crisis.  Like  an  avalanche  it  rushed  onward  crushing 
whatever  Pope  or  Emperor  would  cast  in  its  way.  Rome's 
dam  restraining  the  Water  of  Life  was  broken,  and  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  once  again  released,  poured  forth  to 
work  the  miracle  of  salvation  for  hundreds,  for  millions. 
Twelve  years  after  the  days  at  Worms,  Luther,  reviewing 
the  progress  of  the  Word,  was  constrained  to  declare  that 
such  great  things  had  been  done  by  the  power  of  God  as  no 
man  could  have  either  imagined  or  expected. 

And  to-day?  The  open  Bible,  or  '^So  speaks  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,"  —  that  is  the  last  decision  in  matters  of  con- 
science acknowledged  in  Christendom  the  world  over.  Church 
and  State  alike  are  reaping  the  fruits  of  Luther's  Eeforma- 
tion  through  the  Word.  None  more  so,  however,  than  we, 
who  are  of  the  true  Church  named  for  the  Reformer.  We, 
therefore,  of  the  true  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  before 
others  justly  commemorate  this  quadricentennial  of  the 
Reformation.  With  fervent  thanks  to  God  for  Luther, 
His  instrument,  we  erect  to  the  memory  of  the  champion 
of  the  Word  at  Worms  a  monument,  not  of  marble,  not  of 
brass,  but  of  hearts  bearing  this  inscription: 

God's  Word  and  Luther's  doctrine  pure 
Shall  to  eternity  endure. 


LUTHER    AND    ERASMUS.  4<J 

Luther  and  Erasmus. 

Martin  Walker,  A.  M. 

It  is  a  fact  little  known  that  less  than  two  months  before 
nailing  his  celebrated  Ninety-five  Theses  to  the  door  of 
the  Castle  Church  at  Wittenberg,  Luther  had  framed  ninety- 
seven  theses  against  the  scholastic  theology,  in  which  he 
disj)uted  the  wisdom  of  retaining  the  works  of  Aristotle  as 
text-books.  And  it  throws  an  interesting  light  on  Luther's 
mind  in  1517,  that  whilst  he  did  not  consider  the  indulgence- 
theses  of  October  31st  worth  publishing,  he  had  published 
the  earlier  theses  and  had  sent  copies  to  his  former  pro- 
fessors at  Erfurt  as  well  as  to  some  humanistically  inclined 
friends.  But  even  in  these  earlier  theses  Luther's  theology 
is  already  quite  well  defined.  He  dislikes  Aristotle  because 
his  code  of  ethics  is  "the  worst  enemy  of  grace"  (Thesis  41). 
He  champions  Augustine  versus  Pelagius  and  declarer 
(Thesis  4)  :  "It  is  the  truth  that  man  has  become  a  corrupt 
tree,  and  can  will  and  do  only  that  which  is  evil."  —  "It 
is  false  that  free  will  can  accomplish  anything  in  either 
direction  (good  or  bad) ;  moreover,  the  will  is  not  free, 
but  bound."  (Thesis  5.)  —  "The  best  and  unfailing  prepara- 
tion and  the  only  qualification  for  grace  is  the  eternal  election 
and  foreknowledge  of  God."  (Thesis  29.)  —  "On  the  part  of 
man  nothing  precedes  grace  but  inability,  yea,  rebellion 
against  grace."     (Thesis  30.) 

It  shows  us  Luther  in  his  true  spiritual  greatness  when 
we  find  him  disdaining  the  championship  of  the  Humanists, 
these  knights  of  the  pen,  —  which  proverbially  is  mightier 
than  the  sword,  —  even  as  he  refused  the  proffered  support 
of  Sickingen  and  other  knights  of  the  sword.  For  this  aloof- 
ness of  Luther  from  those  who  would  be  friends  was  not  the 
result  of  some  cold,  calculating  policy.  It  was  the  inevitable 
expression  of  his  innermost  convictions.  Whilst  the  literary 
men  would  claim  him  as  of  their  own  spirit  in  their  demand 
for  "free  thought,"  for  freedom  of  conscience,  of  speech  and 
writing,  they  were  not  with  him  in  bowing  to  the  supreme 
authority   of  Holy    Scriptures.     Whilst   the   knights   fought 

Four  Hundred  Years.  4 


50  LUTHER    AXD   ERASMUS. 

for  liberty,  they  were  little  interested  in  the  liberty  where- 
with Christ  has  made  us  free.  Luther  saw  all  this.  In 
neither  party  did  he  find  that  faith  which  is  the  victory  that 
overcometh  the  world.  Rather,  then,  would  he  fight  his 
battles  alone.  His  conscience  was  bound  in  God's  Word; 
faith  in  Christ  was  his  impelling  motive;  trust  in  God  was 
his  reliance.     God  was  his  refuge  and  strength. 

An  English  historian  has  very  correctly  observed  that 
Luther's  "very  imperviousness  to  the  intellectual,  liberalizing 
tendencies  of  Hmnanism  made  him  all  the  more  fit  to  be 
a  trusted  leader."  (Lindsay.)  How  differently  Luther's 
course  would  have  shaped  itself  had  he  been  under  the 
influence  of  Erasmus  and  the  Humanists,  or  had  he  com- 
promised with  them,  can  *  be  clearly  seen  in  the  life  and 
reformatory  method  of  Zwingli.  The  Swiss  reformer  had 
been  under  the  influence  of  Humanism  from  his  boyhood. 
In  the  formative  period  of  his  life  he  was  strongly  influenced 
by  Erasmus.  From  him  he  borrowed  his  rationalistic  theory 
of  the  Lord's  Supper.  This  theory,  moreover,  was  merely 
typical  of  his  attitude  in  general  to  the  Lloly  Scriptures  and 
to  all  articles  of  faith;  this  whole  attitude  was  Erasmian. 
Luther  well  recognized  this  in  the  Marburg  Colloquy  of  1529 
when  he  spoke  those  memorable  words  to  Zwingli  and  his 
confreres:  "You  have  a  different  spirit."  And  that  different 
spirit  obtains  to  this  day  in  the  Churches  that  have  followed 
the  lead  of  Zwingli  (the  so-called  Reformed  group  of  sects) 
as  compared  with  the  Lutheran  Church.  It  is  not  too  much 
to  say  that,  had  Luther  been  influenced  by  Erasmus  and 
other  Humanists,  or  had  he,  for  the  sake  of  peaceful  co- 
operation, made  concessions  to  them,  the  Lutheran  Reforma- 
tion of  the  Church  would  never  have  come  to  pass. 

The  relation  of  Luther  to  Erasmus,  and  the  controversy 
between  the  two,  calls  for  extended  notice. 

Desiderius  Erasmus  w^as  born  in  Rotterdam,  probably  in 
1467.  He  was  thus  about  sixteen  years  older  than  Luther. 
Forced  into  a  monastery  when  a  lad,  he  managed  to  leave 
it  at  the  age  of  twenty,  retaining  a  loathing  of  the  monastic 
life.     He  studied  at  Cologne  and  Paris,  and  later  traveled 


LUTHER    AND    ERASMUS.  51 

considerably,  residing  for  varying  periods  at  Paris,  at  Lou- 
vain,  in  England,  in  Italy,  at  Basel  and  at  Freiburg  im 
Breisgau.  He  was  truly  cosmopolitan.  In  England  he  met 
and  made  friends  of  the  Christian  Humanists  John  Colet 
and  Thomas  More.  But  he  and  Luther  never  met,  knowing- 
each  other  only  through  correspondence  and  from  each  other's 
writings.  Erasmus  never  held  any  official  position.  He  was 
simply  a  man  of  letters,  and,  as  the  trade  of  literature  was 
not  a  paying  one,  he  was  dependent  on  pensions  from  King 
Henry  YIII  of  England  and  other  princes.  He  was  the  uni- 
versally acknowledged  prince  among  the  Humanists,  the 
Voltaire  of  his  day. 

Together  with  other  scholars  of  his  time  he  bemoaned 
the  evil  condition  of  the  Church.  He  decried  not  only  the 
profligate  life  of  the  clergy,  but  equally  so  the  popular  con- 
fidence in  mere  outward  religious  acts  and  ceremonies.  But 
his  conception  of  a  reformation  was  rather  a  renovation  of 
morals  than  a  purification  from  unscriptural  teaching. 
Nevertheless,  when  he  sent  forth  his  first  edition  of  the  New 
Testament,  he  wrote  in  the  introduction  that  he  wished  that 
women  as  well  as  men  might  read  the  Gospels  and  the  Epistles 
of  Paul ;  that  the  peasant  in  the  field,  the  artisan  in  the 
shop,  and  the  traveler  on  the  highway  should  employ  their 
time  by  reading  from  the  Bible.  He  had  a  firm  belief  in 
the  power  of  knowledge  and  enlightenment.  He  hoped  for 
a  peaceful  reformation;  he  hated  what  he  called  "tumult." 
He  could  not  bear  the  thought  of  a  religious  war.  He  lacked 
every  quality  that  makes  the  hero.  He  feared  to  commit 
himself  on  any  great  question.  Any  expression  of  opinion 
was  usually  so  qualified  that,  if  need  arose,  he  might  change 
or  even  deny  it.  Letters  written  at  the  same  time,  but  to 
different  parties,  express  contradictory  opinions,  and  usually 
contain  cautionary  remarks,  such  as :  "With  your  usual 
prudence  you  will  show  this  to  no  one."  His  biographers 
confess  that  it  is  hopeless  to  look  for  truth  in  his  voluminous 
correspondence.  "No  man  knew  better  how  to  use  'if  and 
'but'  so  as  to  shelter  himself  from  responsibility." 

These  traits  of  character  are  very  illuminating  when  we 


52  LUTHER    AXD    ERASMUS. 

consider  his  relation  to  Luther.  Up  to  1520,  his  attitude 
might  be  described  as  one  of  passive  friendliness;  though 
to  his  credit  it  must  be  noted  that  in  1520  he  put  forth  con- 
siderable effort  with  the  powers  of  Church  and  State  to 
secure  a  fair  hearing  for  Luther.  But  after  the  Diet  at 
Worms  he  became  more  and  more  estranged.  He  dreaded  the 
suspicion  of  being  a  "heretic"  like  Luther,  and  in  many 
letters  he  protested  that  he  had  been  too  busy  even  to  read 
the  writings  of  Luther.  When  a  neutral  position  seemed  no 
longer  possible,  and  he  finally  decided  to  take  up  his  pen 
against  Luther,  he  first  secured  permission  from  the  pope 
to  study  the  writings  of  the  condemned  heretic.  And  several 
years  after  his  controversy  with  Luther  he  wrote  to  Pirk- 
heimer :  "How  much  the  authority  of  the  Church  avails  with 
others  I  know  not,  but  it  is  so  important  to  me  that  I  could 
agree  with  Arians  or  Pelagians  if  the  Church  should  approve 
what  they  taught.  Not  that  the  words  of  Christ  are  not 
sufficient  for  me,  but  it  is  no  wonder  that  I  follow  as  inter- 
preter the  Church,  upon  the  authority  of  which  I  believe  in 
the  canonical  Scriptures.  Others,  perhaps,  have  more  talent 
or  more  strength  than  I,  but  I  rest  nowhere  so  safely  as  in 
the  certain  judgment  of  the  Church.  Of  reasons  and  argu- 
mentations there  is  no  end." 

With  this  knowledge  of  his  vacillating  character  and  his 
supreme  respect  for  the  Church  we  approach  his  De  Lihero 
Arhitrio. 

A  succession  of  events  almost  forced  Erasmus  to  take  up 
his  pen  against  Luther.  His  patron.  King  Henry  YIII,  had 
written  an  attack  upon  Luther,  on  which  the  Reformer  had 
given  the  king  a  most  stinging  reply  (1522),  showing  no 
respect  for  his  position.  The  king  doubtlessly  urged  Eras- 
mus to  help  liim  get  revenge.  Meanwhile,  in  1523,  the  fiery 
Hutten  attacked  Erasmus  for  his  indecision  (an  attack  whicli 
Luther  very  much  deprecated),  on  which  Erasmus  replied, 
blaming  Luther  for  disturbing  the  peace.  In  a  letter  to 
Zwingli,  to  whom  he  dedicated  this  reply,  Erasmus  summed 
up  Luther's  "errors"  to  be  chiefly  these:  1)  Designation  of 
"good  works"  as  in  themselves  sinful ;   2)  denial  of  free  will ; 


LUTHER   AND   ERASMUS.  53 

3)  justification  by  faith  alone.  The  second  of  those  Erasmus 
chose  for  the  subject  of  his  tract  against  Luther,  partly,  at 
least,  because  on  it  he  could  write  so  as  to  please  Kome,  and 
yet  not  be  compelled  to  recall  what  he  had  already  written 
against  the  papacy.  Moreover,  it  was  a  subject  that  appealed 
to  his  speculative  mind,  and  one  on  which  he  honestly  dif- 
fered from  the  Wittenberg  Professor. 

Luther  received  advance  information  of  the  forthcoming 
Diatribe  on  the  Free  Will;  and  in  April,  1524,  wrote  a  kindly 
letter  to  Erasmus  at  Basel,  beseeching  him  for  the  good  of 
the  cause  not  to  create  further  divisions  and  offenses. 

To  this  letter  Erasmus  replied  courteously,  declaring  that, 
since  Luther  felt  called  to  give  an  account  of  his  faith,  he 
must  accord  the  same  privilege  to  others  no  less  zealous  for 
the  Gospel.  Months  before  this,  however,  Erasmus  had  sub- 
mitted a  draft  of  his  tract  to  King  Henry,  and  so  in  the 
course  of  1524  the  Diatribe  on  Free  Will  was  published. 

In  the  introduction  he  was  at  pains  to  preserve  his  stand- 
ing with  the  Church.  He  has  no  confidence  in  the  clarity  of 
Scriptures;  they  need  an  interpreter.  As  for  himself,  he 
is  ever  ready  to  abide  by  the  interpretation  of  the  Church. 
For  individuals,  like  Luther,  to  appeal  independently  to 
the  Scriptures  upsets  all  certainty.  "]\foreover,"  he  writes, 
"I  take  so  little  pleasure  in  positive  assertions  that  I  would 
readily  join  the  skeptics,  were  it  not  for  the  inviolable  au- 
thority of  Holy  Writ  and  the  decrees  of  the  Church,  to  which 
I  readily  subject  my  reason,  whether  I  am  able  or  not  to 
comprehend  her  directions."  iVccordingly,  we  look  in  vain 
for  any  original  treatment  of  the  question  or  for  any  positive 
convictions.  "As  respects  my  opinion,  I  confess  that  the 
early  writers  teach  much  regarding  free  will,  on  which  I  as 
yet  have  no  positive  conviction,  except  that  /  hold  that  free 
will  is  possessed  of  some  power."  (§  2.)  And  so  he  quotes 
various  opinions;  but  such  terms  as  "It  is  probable,"  "It  is 
likely,"  "Whether  it  be  so  I  know  not,"  creep  in  again  and 
again.  To  believe  in  a  providential  overruling  of  our  lives 
he  thinks  enough,  "without  delving  into  such  questions  as  .  .  . 
whether  our  will  is  nctive  in  matters  pertaining  to  our  salva- 


54  LUTHER    AXD    ERASMUS. 

tion,  or  whether  it  be  merely  passive  over  against  God's 
efficient  grace."  (§  2.)  He  cites  not  a  few  Scripture- 
passages;  but  his  exegesis  is  not  always  sound;  he  mis- 
applies passages,  and  his  illustrations  are  not  to  the  point. 
Incidentally  he  (probably  unintentionally)  misinterprets 
some    of   Luther's    statements. 

In  the  fifth  century  an  errorist  named  Pelagius  had 
taught  that  God  did  not  demand  what  He  knew  man  could 
not  perform;  that  man  could  do  the  will  of  God  without  the 
aid  of  grace,  though  less  easily  than  when  assisted  by  grace; 
that  man,  by  the  proper  exercise  of  his  free  will,  might 
acquire  faith  and  prepare  himself  for  grace.  Pelagius  found 
quite  a  following,  and  his  error  permeated  the  theology  of 
the  Middle  Ages  in  the  milder  form  of  Semi-Pelagianism. 
However,  since  the  Church,  under  the  leadership  of  the  great 
teacher  Augustine,  had  formally  rejected  Pelagianism  as 
a  heresy,  Erasmus  did  not  want  to  be  understood  as  being 
guilty  of  Pelagianism.  As  a  matter  of  fact  he  was,  though 
in  its  modified  form.  (Luther,  however,  in  his  reply  declared 
him  worse  than  Pelagius.)  "Pelagius,"  he  admits,  "ascribed 
too  much  to  free  will,"  but  adds :  "Luther  first  mutilated  free 
will  by  chopping  off  his  right  arm.  Not  content  therewith, 
he  struck  him  down  and  cleared  him  away  entirely."    (§  41.) 

Erasmus  touched  upon  the  real  crux  of  the  matter  in  this 
passage:  "They"  (Luther  and  his  like)  "exaggerate  original 
sin  beyond  all  measure,  declaring  that  by  it  the  most  splendid 
powers  of  our  human  nature  are  so  corrupted  that  of  our- 
selves we  can  do  no  more  than  to  be  ignorant  of  God  and 
hate  Him."  Erasmus  had  no  deep  sense  of  sin,  as  did  Luther, 
and  hence  could  not  appreciate  the  absolute  need  of  divine 
grace.  Though  he  declared  that  all  glory  for  the  salvation 
of  sinners  should  belong  to  Clirist,  in  other  statements  he 
credited  not  a  little  to  the  virtue  of  man.  This  sentence, 
near  the  close  (§  42),  practically  sums  up  the  position  taken 
in  the  Diatribe:  "I  am  pleased  with  the  opinion  of  those 
who  ascribe  something  to  free  will,  but  most  to  grace." 

Luther  waited  a  whole  year  before  replying  to  the  Dia- 
tribe.    It  was  an  especially  trying  year  for  him,  with  the 


LUTHER    A>D    ERASMUS.  55 

Peasant's  Revolt,  his  marriage,  and  other  weighty  matters 
to  occupy  him.  However,  Luther  gave  as  the  real  reason  for 
the  delay  his  aversion  to  making  reply  to  so  unworthy  a  tract. 
It  was  onlj^  because  he  feared  that  his  silence  would  be  mis- 
interpreted that  he  could  bring  himself  to  write  a  counter- 
tract.  But  once  undertaken,  he  did  the  work  with  customary 
zeal  and  thoroughness,  in  this  case  also  paying  special 
attention  to  his  Latin  and  to  the  form  of  the  composition. 

In  December,  1525,  Luther  published  his  book  under  the 
title:  On  the  Unfree  Will,  which  Jonas  immediately  trans- 
lated into  German,  with  the  title :   That  Free  Will  Is  Nothing. 

In  the  preface  Luther  expresses  his  disappointment  that 
Erasmus,  to  whom  he  concedes  superiority  in  intellectual 
and  rhetorical  ability  and  in  the  knowledge  of  the  languages, 
should  not  have  made  out  a  better  case  for  himself.  He 
asserts  that  Erasmus  had  brought  forward  nothing  ]iew; 
that  his  arguments  had  been  demolished  in  advance  by 
^felanchthon  in  his  recently  published  Doctrinal  Theology 
(Loci  Communes).  He  chides  the  Humanist  for  being 
"slippery"  in  his  use  of  words  and  very  shifty  in  his  argu- 
mentation. Thereupon  Luther  maintains  the  clarity  and 
infallibility  of  Holy  Scriptures,  asserting  that  from  them 
a  Christian  can  and  should  gain  full  certitude  for  his  faith. 
The  Holy  Ghost  is  no  skeptic.  Without  positive  truth  there 
can  be  no  Christianity.  As  regards  free  will,  this  is  not 
a  question  on  which  a  Christian  might  well  be  left  in 
ignorance.  We  must  know  what  ability  wo  have  over  against 
God,  and  what  not ;  else  will  we  not  properly  venerate,  praise,, 
and  serve  Him.  In  the  following  words  Luther  defines  the 
term  "free  will"  :  — 

"Now,  if  we  are  not  ready  altogether  to  drop  this  term,  — 
which  would  be  by  far  the  safer  and  more  Christian  thing 
to  do,  —  we  should  at  least  teach  that  the  term  is  used  in 
good  faith  only  when  a  free  will  is  conceded  to  man  not 
with  respect  to  things  that  are  above  liim,  but  only  with 
respect  to  things  below  him ;  that  is,  man  should  know 
that  in  his  temporal  possessions  he  has  the  power  to  use,  to 
do  or  leave  undone,  according  to  his  own  free  will ;    although 


56  LUTHER    AND   ERASMUS. 

even  this  is  controlled  by  God's  free  will,  as  it  pleases  Him. 
But  over  against  God,  or  in  matters  pertaining  to  salvation 
or  damnation,  man  has  no  free  will,  but  is  bound,  subjected 
as  a  servant  to  the  free  will  of  God  or  to  the  will  of  the 
devil." 

Thereupon  Luther  proceeds  to  take  up  for  discussion  each 
point  of  the  Diatribe.  He  makes  reply  to  each  opinion  sub- 
mitted by  Erasmus,  copiously  quoting  Scripture  to  maintain 
his  own  position.  Everywhere  Luther  speaks  with  positive 
conviction.  As  a  result  of  the  fall  into  sin,  man's  whole 
nature  is  depraved ;  the  will  is  not  free,  but  bound,  a  slave  to 
Satan;  no  man  can  of  himself,  of  his  own  will,  accomplish, 
or  even  desire,  aught  that  is  good  in  God's  sight.  Every 
impulse  toward  that  which  is  good  must  emanate  from  God. 
When  man  turns  from  sin  to  righteousness;  when  he  accepts 
the  salvation  in  Christ;  when  he  believes  and  begins  to  do 
"good  works":  all  this  is  the  result  of  God's  calling  and 
drawing,  which  itself  is  consequent  upon  God's  eternal  decree 
of  grace  in  predestination.  All  this  is,  of  course,  offensive 
to  human  pride  and  far  above  human  reason  (Ps.  73,  22 : 
"So  foolish  was  I  and  ignorant;  I  was  as  a  beast  before 
Thee")  ;  but  all  this  is  the  clear  teaching  of  God's  Word,  and 
must  therefore  be  simply  believed.  All  this  is  also  very 
comforting  to  the  believer,  who  thus  knows  his  salvation  de- 
pendent not  upon  his  own  fickle  will,  but  upon  the  un- 
changing will  and  grace  of  God. 

"Take  the  example,"  he  says,  "in  Rom.  10,  20,  adduced 
from  Isaiah:  'I  was  found  of  them  that  sought  Me  not; 
T  was  made  manifest  unto  them  that  asked  not  after  Me.' 
This  he  says  of  the  heathen,  that  unto  them  it  had  been 
given  to  hear  and  to  know  Christ,  although  previously  they 
•could  not  have  had  so  much  as  a  thought  of  Christ,  much 
less  seek  Him  or  with  the  powers  of  free  will  to  prepare 
themselves  for  Him.  This  example  makes  it  sufficiently  clear 
that  grace  comes  altogether  without  merit;  that  no  thought 
of  grace,  much  less  an  effort  or  a  desire  for  grace,  precedes  it. 
Even  so  it  was  in  the  case  of  Paul.  While  he  was  yet 
;i  Sank  what  did  he  do  with  this  (vaunted)  highest  power  of 


LUTKFR    .VXD    ERASMUS. 


O  t 


free  will?  Surely  he  had  the  best  and  noblest  intentions, 
when  judged  by  human  reason.  Now,  mark  well,  through 
what  kind  of  effort  did  he  obtain  grace?  Not  only  does  he 
not  seek  grace,  but  he  obtains  grace  while  yet  resisting. 
With  respect  to  the  Jews,  on  the  other  liand,  he  declares: 
'The  Gentiles,  which  followed  not  after  righteousness,  have 
attained  to  righteousness,  even  the  righteousness  which  is  of 
faith.  But  Israel,  which  followed  after  the  law  of  righteinis- 
ness,  hath  not  attained  to  the  law  of  righteousness.'  (Rom.  0, 
30.  31.)  What  can  any  champion  of  free  will  mutter  against 
this?  Without  merit,  by  the  grace  of  God,  the  Gentiles 
attain  to  righteousness  while  yet  filled  with  ungodliness  and 
all  manner  of  vice,  whereas  the  Jews  fail  to  attain  unto 
righteousness  whilst  striving  after  the  same  with  most  earnest 
endeavor.  Is  not  this  equivalent  to  saying  that  the  effort 
of  free  will  is  vain,  and  that,  while  attempting  the  good, 
the  will  itself  is  losing  ground  and  growing  worse?  Nor  could 
any  one  maintain  that  the  Jews  had  not  put  forth  the  very 
best  powers  of  their  will.  Paul  himself  bears  them  record, 
Rom.  10,  2.  'that  they  have  a  zeal  of  God,  but  not  according 
to  knowledge.'  Therefore  nothing  is  lacking  with  the  Jews 
which  might  be  attributed  to  free  will ;  and  yet  nothing 
[good]  results,  but  rather  the  opposite.  With  the  Gentiles 
nothing  is  present  that  is  attributed  to  free  will,  and  yet 
the  righteousness  of  God  follows.  What  have  we  in  this 
most  manifest  example  of  these  two  peoples  [Jews  and  Gen- 
tiles] and  in  this  most  clear  testimony  of  Paul  other  than 
the  evidence  that  grace  is  bestowed  freely  upon  the  un- 
deserving and  the  most  unworthy,  and  is  not  obtained  by  any 
strivings,  efforts,  or  works,  however  small  or  great,  even  of 
the  best  and  most  honorable  of  mankind,  even  though  they 
should  seek  and  follow  after  righteousness  with  burning  zeal  V 

In  the  following  section  Luther  marshals  powerful  argu- 
ments from  St.  John :  — 

Now  let  us  take  up  John,  who  likewise,  in  many  words 
and  powerfully,  strikes  down  free  will.  At  the  very  outset 
he  ascribes  to  free  will  so  great  blindness  that  it  cannot  even 
see  the  liaht  of  truth:    how  much  les^,  then,  could  it  strive 


58  LUTHER    AND    ERASMUS. 

after  the  truth.  For  he  says  (John  1,  5)  :  "The  light  shineth 
in  darkness,  and  the  darkness  comprehended  it  not";  and 
shortly  after  (vv.  10.  11)  :  "He  was  in  the  world,  .  .  .  and 
the  world  knew  Him  not;  He  came  into  His  own,  and  His 
own  received  Him  not." 

What  do  you  suppose  he  means  with  "world"  ?  Would 
you  exclude  from  this  term  any  but  such  as  have  been  re- 
generated by  the  Holy  Ghost?  This  apostle  [John]  regularly 
uses  the  word  "world"  with  a  peculiar  significance,  meaning 
thereby  the  whole  human  race.  Whatever,  then,  he  says 
regarding  the  world  must  apply  to  the  free  will,  since  that 
is  the  most  excellent  part  of  man.  Now,  then,  according  to 
this  apostle  the  world  does  not  know  the  light  of  truth 
(John  1,  10) ;  the  world  hates  Christ  and  His  followers 
(John  15,  19) ;  the  world  knows  not  nor  sees  the  Holy 
Ghost  (John  14,  17)  ;  the  whole  world  lieth  in  wickedness 
(1  John  5,  19) ;  all  that  is  in  the  world  is  the  lust  of  the 
flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eyes,  and  the  pride  of  life;  love  not 
the  world  (1  John  2,  15.  16) ;  ye  are  of  the  world  (says  He) 
(John  8,  25) ;  "the  world  cannot  hate  you;  but  Me  it  hateth 
because  I  testify  of  it  that  the  works  thereof  are  evil" 
(John  7,  7). 

All  these  and  similar  passages  are  declarations  regarding 
free  will  as  the  chief  agency  of  a  world  lying  in  the  power 
of  the  devil.  For  John  also  speaks  of  the  world  by  way  of 
contrast  [to  the  Holy  Ghost]  ;  hence  with  "world"  is  meant 
that  part  which  has  not  been  brought  to  the  Spirit,  as  He 
says  to  the  Apostles:  "I  have  chosen  you  out  of  the  world 
and  ordained  you,"  etc.  (John  15,  19.  16.)  Now,  then,  if 
there  were  any  in  the  world  who  with  a  free  will  were  striving 
after  goodness,  —  as  would  be  the  case  if  free  will  had  any 
power,  —  then  out  of  respect  for  such  John  would  properly 
have  tempered  his  speech,  so  that  he  would  not  in  his  general 
terms  involve  these  also  in  the  many  evils  which  he  charges 
against  the  world.  But  since  he  fails  to  make  any  such 
restrictions,  it  is  evident  that  he  in  every  passage  regarding 
the   "world"   also   accuses  the  free  will;    for  whatever  the 


LUTHER    AND   ERASMUS.  59 

world  may  do  it  does  by  the  power  of  free  will,  that  is,  by 
reason  and  will,  which  are  its  chief  excellencies. 

Now  follows  John  1,  12.  13:  "But  as  many  as  received 
Him,  to  them  gave  He  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God, 
even  to  them  that  believe  on  His  name;  which  were  born, 
not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  tHe  will  of 
man,  but  of  God."  By  this  clean-cut  division  lie  rejects  from 
the  kingdom  of  Christ  the  blood,  the  will  of  the  flesh,  and 
the  will  of  man.  ...  In  this  rejection  the  will  of  man,  or 
the  free  will,  is  necessarily  included,  since  it  is  neither  born 
of  God,  nor  is  it  faith.  Now,  if  free  will  availed  aught,  it 
would  not  have  behooved  John  to  reject  the  will  of  man,  nor 
to  draw  men  away  from  the  same,  and  point  them  solely  to 
faith  and  regeneration,  lest  the  word  of  Isaiah  (5,  20)  be 
made  to  apply  to  him:  "Woe  unto  them  that  call  evil  good 
and  good  evil  I"  However,  since  he  equally  rejects  blood,  the 
will  of  the  flesh  and  the  will  of  man,  it  is  certain  that  the 
will  of  man  can  do  no  more  toward  producing  children  of 
God  than  can  [human]  blood  or  physical  generation.  But 
no  one  doubts  that  physical  birth  does  not  produce  children 
of  God,  as  St.  Paul  says  (Rom.  9,  8)  :  "They  which  are  the 
children  of  the  flesh,  these  are  not  the  children  of  God"; 
which  he  proves  by  the  example  of  Ishmael  and  Isaac. 

In  deducing  an  argument  against  free  will  from  John 
1,  16:  "Of  His  fulness  have  we  all  received  and  grace  for 
grace,"  Luther  replies  specifically  to  Erasmus's  position  that 
man  by  the  effort  of  his  will  can,  in  a  measure  at  least,  pre- 
pare himself  for  the  grace  of  God.  And  here  Luther  drives 
home  to  the  consciousness  of  the  champions  of  free  will  that 
they  are  deniers  of  Christ  when  they  maintain  free  will. 
For  if  I  by  my  effort  obtain  the  grace  of  God,  what  need  have 
I  of  the  grace  of  Christ  in  order  to  receive  grace  for  myself? 
Grace  will  not  suffer  beside  itself  any,  even  the  smallest, 
particle  or  power  of  free  will. 

Take,  further,  this  word  of  Christ  (John  6,  44)  :  "No  man 
can  come  to  Me  except  the  Father  which  hath  sent  Me 
draw  Him,"  —  what  does  it  leave  for  free  will  ?  For  He 
says  it  is  necessary  that  a  man  hear  and  learn  of  the  Father 


60  LUTHER    AND    ERASMUS. 

Himself,  and  then  also  (v.  45)  that  all  must  be  taught  of 
God.  Surelj^  He  here  teaches  not  only  that  the  works  and 
efforts  of  free  will  are  useless,  but  even  that  the  word  of 
the  Gospel  (of  which  He  here  treats)  will  be  heard  in  vain 
unless  the  Father  Himself  inwardly  speak,  teach,  and  draw. 
iSTo  one  can,  no  one  (He  says)  can  come,  that  is,  in  that 
strength  in  which  man  could  attemi)t  anything  for  Christ; 
such  strength  as  regards  matters  of  salvation  is  declared  to 
be  nothing. 

Luther  closed  his  lengthy  reply  to  Erasmus  with  these 
w^ords :  "The  Lord,  to  whom  belongs  our  cause,  enlighten 
thee,  and  make  thee  a  vessel  to  His  honor  and  glory !" 

How  sincerely  this  pious  wish  was  meant  appears  from 
letters  written  to  Spalatin  and  Lange  'way  back  in  1516  and 
1517,  in  which,  after  expressing  his  regrets  (eight  years  before 
the  Diatrihe)  that  Erasmus  was  not  sound  with  regard  to 
the  doctrines  of  original  sin,  free  will,  righteousness,  and 
grace,  he  added  the  hope  that  the  Lord  would  enlighten  him, 
so  that  his  authority  and  usefulness  might  increase.  But  the 
doctrinal  controversy  of  1525  definitely  alienated  the  Prince 
of  Humanists  from  the  great  Reformer,  It  marked  more 
clearly  the  sharp  line  between  rationalists  and  Bible-theo- 
logians. Erasmus  got  little  satisfaction  out  of  his  Diatribe 
and  of  his  later  efforts  in  the  Hi/peras pistes  (which  Luther 
deemed  unworthy  of  a  reply).  Even  the  papacy  had  no 
reward  for  him.  Having  lived  a  mediating  life,  he  died  in 
virtual  isolation  (1536).  And  after  death  he  was  classed 
by  Rome  as  a  heretic,  and  ranged  with  those  whose  cause  he 
had  refiised  to  espouse;  for  Paul  IT  placed  all  his  books, 
including  those  against  Luther,  on  the  Index.  Thus  the  life 
and  work  of  Desiderius  Erasmus  is  an  illustration  of  the 
truth  of  the  Savior's  statement :  "He  that  is  not  with  Me  is 
against  Me,  and  he  that  gathereth  not  with  Me  scattereth 
abroad." 

Luther,  on  the  other  hand,  had  the  satisfaction  of  finding 
that  his  book  on  the  unfree  will  strengthened  the  simple 
trust  of  his  adherents  in  the  overruling  providence  of  God 
and  the  all-sufficiency  of  His  electing  aiid  sustaining  grace  in 


LUTHER    A-NU    JUSTIFICATION.  61 

Clii-ist.  His  Biblical  doctrine  of  the  unfree  will  was  in- 
corporated in  the  Augsburg  Confession  (Art.  XVIII)  and, 
briefly,  in  the  Snialcald  Articles;  after  his  death  more  fully 
in  the  Formula  of  Concord  (Art.  II).  Luther  himself,  in 
his  later  years,  classed  his  book  on  the  unfree  will  as  among- 
the  few  of  his  works  which  he  wished  might  not  perish.  For 
the  simple  Christian  he  comjiressed  the  great  truths  of  this 
doctrine  of  the  unfree  will,  of  the  election  and  conversion 
of  a  sinner  purely  by  the  grace  of  God,  into  these  clear 
statements  of  his  Small  Catechism: 

"The  kingdom  of  God  comes  to  us  .  .  .  when  our  heavenly 
Father  gives  us  His  Holy  Spirit,  so  that  by  His  grace  we 
believe  His  holy  Word  and  lead  a  godly  life,  here  in  time 
and  hereafter  in  eternity,", — 
and: 

"I  believe  that  I  cannot  by  my  own  reason  or  strength 
believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  my  Lord,  or  come  to  Him;  but  the 
Holy  Ghost  has  called  me  by  the  Gospel,  enlightened  me  with 
His  gifts,  sanctified  and  kept  me  in  the  true  faith;  even 
as  He  calls,  gathers,  enlightens,  and  sanctifies  the  whole 
Christian  Church  on  earth,  and  keeps  it  with  Jesus  Christ 
in  the  one  true  faith." 


Luther  and  Justification. 

Rev.  W.  Dallmaxn.  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

I,  The  Importance. 

"I  believe  neither  the  pope  nor  the  councils  alone,  for  it 
is  plain  they  have  often  erred  and  contradicted  one  another. 
I  am  overcome  by  the  Scriptures  quoted  by  me,  and  my  con- 
science is  bound  in  God's  Word.  I  cannot,  neither  am 
I  willing  to,  take  back  anything;  for  to  act  against  conscience 
is  neither  safe  nor  upright.  Here  I  stand;  I  cannot  do 
otherwise ;    God  help  me  I     Amen.'' 

So  spoke  Luther  at  Worms,  in  1521.  He  had  already 
been  excommunicated  l»y  tlie  pope,  and  now  he  was  to  be 
outlawed  bv  the  kaiser;    vet  he  took  his  soul  and  liis  life  in 


62  LUTHER    AND    JUSTIFICATION. 

his  hand  and  defied  Church  and  State  —  Luther  against  the 
world ! 

According  to  Carlyle  and  Froude  this  is  one  of  the  finest 
scenes  in  history  or  fiction.  This  speech  is  one  of  the 
greatest  ever  spoken  by  the  lips  of  man. 

Why  would  Luther  heroically  die  rather  than  take  back 
his  teaching,  which  may  be  summed  up  in  Justification  by 
Faith?  Because  he  held  it  "the  article  of  the  standing  and 
the  falling  Church." 

He  said :  "In  this  article  we  can  make  no  concession  or 
compromise,  though  heaven  and  earth  and  all  else  sink  into 
ruins.  .  .  .  And  on  this  article  depends  all  we  teach  and 
do  against  the  pope,,  the  devil,  and  the  world."  (Smalcald 
Articles;  Mueller,  p.  300.)  Again:  "If  but  this  one  article 
in  its  purity  holds  the  field,  the  Christian  Church  also  will 
remain  pure,  peaceful,  and  without  sects;  but  if  this  does 
not  remain  pure,  it  is  impossible  to  resist  any  error  or 
sectarian  spirit."    (Mueller,  p.  611.) 

The  Romanists  agreed  with  Luther  that  justification  was 
the  ground  for  the  real  Armageddon,  the  decisive  battle 
between  Christ  and  Antichrist.  Luther  and  his  opponents 
did  not  fight  in  the  dark,  but  in  broad  daylight,  with  their 
visors  open,  and  each  saw  the  vital  spot  where  the  deadly 
thrust  might  pierce  the  heart. 

The  fathers  of  Trent  said:  "All  the  errors  of  Martin 
were  resolved  into  that  point  —  justification  —  from  whence 
he  hath  denied  efficacy  in  the  Sacraments,  authority  of 
priests,  purgatory,  sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  and  all  other  reme- 
dies for  remission  of  sins.  Therefore,  by  a  contrary  way,  he 
that  will  establish  the  body  of  the  Catholic  doctrine  must 
overthrow  the  heresy  of  justification  by  faith  only."  (Paolo 
Sarpi,  Bist.  Council  Trent,  p.  190,  in  M'Evaine's  Righteous- 
ness hy  Faith,  p.  XXI Y.) 

Against  what  did  Luther  protest? 

"There  is  in  the  Church  a  treasure  of  the  satisfactions 
of  Christ  and  the  saints  which  is  applicable  to  those  who, 
after  the  remission  of  the  guilt  in  the  Sacrament  of  Penance, 
are   still   liable   to   the   payment   of   temporal   punishment." 


LUTHER    AND    JUSTIFICATION.  G3 

(Cardinal  Bellarmine,   quoted  by  John  Henry  Newman   in 
his  Prophetic  Office  of  the  Church,  p.  136.) 

This  treasure  the  pope  sold  to  the  people. 

"What  he  thought  he  was  buying  was  forgiveness  of  his 
past  sins,  and,  at  the  same  time,  liberty  to  commit  more.  .  .  . 
And  the  magic  documents  were  sold  indiscriminately  to  all 
comers."  No  student  of  the  history  of  Luther's  times  who 
pursues  his  studies  without  blinkers  can  doubt  that  these 
words  (of  Dr.  Beard)  accurately  describe  that  colossal  scandal 
which  Erasmus  designated  "the  crime  of  false  pardons." 
There  can  be  no  doubt  whatever  —  the  evidence  is  too  abun- 
dant and  too  overwhelming  —  that  the  vast  majority  of  the 
preachers  of  indulgences  soon  became  to  be  of  the  type  of 
the  "gentil  pardoner"  who  lives  for  us  in  Chaucer's  pages. 
For  min  entente  is  nat  but  for  to  winne, 
And  no-thing  for  correction  to  sinne. 

To  the  crowds  who  flocked  to  the  indulgence  fairs  their 
message  practically  was,  as  Herr  Kawerau  bluntly  puts  it, 
that  St.  Peter  for  hard  cash  would  open  and  guarantee 
heaven. 

So  says  William  Samuel  Lilly,  of  Cambridge  University, 
Secretary  of  the  Catholic  Union  of  Great  Britain,  in  his 
Renaissance  Types,  pp.  254.  255. 

Against  the  pope's  sale  of  the  forgiveness  of  sins  for 
hard  cash  Luther  protested  by  his  justification  by  faith. 

IL  The  Doctrine. 

Justification  is  the  imputation  of  the  expiation.  That 
is  the  key-stone  holding  the  other  doctrines  in  place ;  without 
it  they  would  fall  into  meaningless  ruins.  The  other  doc- 
trines form  the  warp  and  woof  of  justification,  and  that 
cannot  be  destroyed  without  destroying  the  rest.  Justifi- 
cation presupposes  and  implies  all  the  important  Christian 
doctrines,  so  that  it  is  not  a  doctrine  of  Christianity,  —  it 
is  Christianity. 

1.  What  does  justification  presuppose? 

a.  Justification  presupposes  the  whole  work  of  Christ  for 
our  salvation. 


64  LUTHER    AXD    JUSTIFICATION'. 

We  were  disobedient  sinners,  and  the  wrath  of  God  cometh 
upon  the  children  of  disobedience.  (Eph.  2,  3;  5,  6;  Rom. 
1,  18;    2,  8.) 

"Oh,  generation  of  vipers,  who  hath  warned  you  to  flee 
from  the  wrath  to  come?"    (Matt.  3,  7.) 

Jesus  delivered  us  from  the  wrath  to  come.  (1  Thess.  1, 10 ; 
5,  9;  Koin.  5,  9.) 

How?  He  is  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin 
of  the  world.    (John  1,  29.) 

How  ?  ^  Christ,  our  Passover,  is  sacrificed  for  us.  (1  Cor. 
5,  7.)  Christ's  soul  was  a  guilt-offering  for  sin.  (Is.  53,  10.) 
Christ  gave  Himself  for  an  offering  and  a  sacrifice  to  God, 
to  make  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the  people.  (Eph.  5,  2 ; 
Heb.  2,  17.)  Christ  died  for  our  sins,  the  Just  for  the 
unjust,  to  bring  us  to  God.    (1  Cor.  15,  3;    1  Pet.  3,  18.) 

(^.  ^.^ b.  This  work  of  Christ  involves  the  whole  person  of  Christ. 

He  was  born,  He  suffered,  He  died;  and  so  He  is  the  man 
Christ  Jesus.    (1  Tim.  2,  5;   Luke  24,  39.) 

But  no  man  can  redeem  his  brother,  nor  give  to  God 
a  ransom  for  him;  for  the  redemption  of  their  soul  is 
precious,  and  it  ceaseth  forever.    (Ps.  49,  7.  8.) 

Christ  is  man,  true  man,  but  not  mere  man.  He  is  the 
God-man,  and  so  the  blood  of  Christ  is  the  blood  of  the  Son 
of  God,  God  hath  purchased  His  Church  with  His  own  blood, 
and  so  it  is  the  precious  blood  of  Christ  that  cleanseth  us 
from  all  sins.    (1  Pet.  1,  18.  19;    Acts  20,  28.) 

Because  He  is  man.  His  work  is  available  for  man; 
because  He  is  God,  His  work  is  satisfactory  to  God. 

.;  — r—-'  c.  The  work  of  Christ  involves  the  Holy  Trinity.  Christ 
made  atonement  for  our  sins;  He  achieved  the  reconciliation; 
He  paid  the  ransom,  the  price  of  our  redemption.  But  it  w^as 
the  Father  who  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only- 
begotten  Son.  (John  3,  16.)  It  pleased  the  Father  by  Christ 
to  reconcile  all  things  unto  Himself.  (Col.  1,  20;  Rom.  5,  8.) 
While  the  Father  conceived  the  reconciliation,  and  the 
Son  achieved  the  reconciliation,  we  received  the  reconcilia- 
tion (Rom.  5,  11)  through  the  word  of  reconciliation  (2  Cor. 


LUTHER   AND    JUSTIFICATION.  65 

5,  19),  which  the  Holy  Spirit  applied  to  us  —  "Ye  are  justi- 
fied in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  our 
God."  (1  Cor.  G,  11.)  No  man  can  say  that  Jesus  is  the 
Lord  but  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  (1  Cor.  12,  3.)  With  this  faith 
we  possess  the  LToly  Spirit,  who  bears  witness  with  our 
spirit  that  we  are  the  children  of  God  (Rom.  8,  16;  Gal.  4,  G), 
and  who  is  the  seal  and  earnest  of  our  salvation.    (2   Cor. 

1,  21.  22;   Eph.  1,  14;   Rom.  8,  23.) 

The  expiation  is  made  to  the  Father;  the  expiation  is 
made  hy  the  Son;  the  expiation  is  imputed  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  —  a  threefold,  yet  uniform  activity  of  the  Trinity. 
This  relation  of  the  Holy  Trinity  is  real,  continuing,  and 
eternal. 

2.  What  does  justification  imply  f 
a.  Justification  implies  the  sinfulness  of  man. 
Why  did  Christ  have  to  make  an  expiation?  Naturally, 
because  man  could  not  make  it  himself.  We  have  come 
short  of  the  glory  of  God,  we  have  failed  to  attain  to  the 
righteousness  of  God.  (Rom.  3,  9.  19.  23.)  The  natural  man 
receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God;  they  are 
foolishness  unto  him,  neither  can  he  know  them.     (1   Cor. 

2,  14.)  We  are  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins.  (Eph.  2,  1 ; 
Col.  2,  13.) 

And  sin  is  not  simply  a  lack,  a  defect,  an  imperfection, 
something  negative;  no,  man  is  positively  and  actively 
a  transgressor.  The  carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God 
(Rom.  8,  7),  and  from  this  covert  enemy  mind  come  overt 
enemy  acts  of  aggression  and  rebellion  in  thought,  word, 
and  deed.  And  so  man  knows  himself  laden  with  guilt  and 
therefore  a  child  of  wrath.    (Eph.  2,  3.) 

As  to  this  very  guilt  the  guilty  is  declared  not  guilty. 
Justification  is  just  this,  that  God  does  not  impute  their 
trespasses  unto  sinners,  but  does  impute  the  righteousness 
of  Christ.  (2  Cor.  5,  19—21;  Rom.  4,  6—8.)  The  guilty  is 
transferred  into  the  state  of  grace.  The  child  of  wrath  is 
accepted  in  the  Beloved. 

Four  Hundred  Years.  .5 


66  LUTHER   AND   JUSTIFICATION. 

So  justification  implies  man's  total  depravity,  which  is 
taught  in  Scripture  and  found  in  the  Christian's  experience. 

When  we  now  probe  human  nature,  we  shall  discover 
the  fountain  of  iniquity  in  original  sin,  which  has  corrupted 
and  vitiated  our  whole  human  nature.  And  the  more  we 
grow  in  grace  and  holiness,  the  more  we  realize  the  corruption 
of  our  native  condition.  The  clearer  the  light  from  heaven 
beats  upon  our  heart,  the  deeper  the  blackness  of  night  comes 
out  by  the  violent  contrast  between  God's  holiness  and  man's 
sinfulness. 

From  the  nadir  of  our  fallen  state  we  view  the  zenith  of 
our  original  estate.  The  fallen  state  of  man's  present  enmity 
against  God  implies  his  former  state  of  friendship  with  God, 
when  man  walked  with  God  in  the  cool  of  the  evening. 
Then  man  was  in  the  image  of  God,  which  consisted  in 
holiness,  righteQ;usness,  and  the  true  knowledge  of  God. 

Christ  has  slain  the  enmity;  He  is  our  peace;  and  in 
the  strength  of  my  justification  I  grow  in  holiness,  and  thus 
put  on  more  and  more  of  the  image  of  God,  return  nearer 
to  the  original  state  from  which  I  had  fallen. 

This  total  depravity  also  implies  the  bondage  of  the  will. 
It  is  not  denied  that  man  is  a  free  agent  in  civil  and  political 
matters;  it  is  denied  that  he  is  a  free  agent  in  spiritual 
matters.  And  this  is  not  a  barren  speculation  of  philosophy, 
but  a  very  practical  truth  taught  in  Scripture  and  found 
in  the  Christian's  experience. 

Dead  in  sin,  we  have  been  quickened  by  God.  Blind  in 
sin,  we  have  been  enlightened  by  God,  who  hath  shined  into 
our  hearts  to  give  us  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory 
of  God  in  the  face  of  Christ  Jesus.  It  is  God  that  worketh 
in  us  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  His  good  pleasure.  Both 
Scriptures  and  experience  lead  a  Christian  to  confess: 
"I  believe  that  I  cannot  by  my  own  reason  or  strength 
believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  my  Lord,  or  come  to  Him,  but  the 
Holy  Ghost  has  called  me  by  the  Gospel,"  etc. 

Even  the  best  of  Christians  still  feels  the  terrific  power 
of  sin,  —  what  must  have  been  that  power  before  he  became 
a  Christian!    (Eom.  7,  14 — 25.)     So  justification  implies  the 


LUTHER    AND    JUSTIFICATION.  67 

bondage  of  the  will,  and  denies  all  Pelagianism  and  Semi- 
Pelagianism.  We  are  saved  by  the  operation  of  God,  not  by 
the  cooperation  of  man;  by  God's  monergism,  not  by  man's 
synergism. 

b.  Justification  implies  faith. 

1.  The  Source  of  Faith. 

The  Gospel  is  the  promise  of  God's  grace  in  Christ  Jesus. 

How  can  I  receive  a  promise?  Of  course,  only  by  faith. 
Faith  trusts  the  promise,  clings  to  the  promise,  rests  on  the 
promise. 

As  a  ring  is  precious  on  account  of  the  diamond  it  holds, 
so  faith  has  justifying  power  on  account  of  the  Christ  it 
embraces.  (Rom.  4,  25;  1  Cor.  15.)  What  gives  joy  to  the 
assurance  of  faith  is  the  view  of  the  exalted  Christ  making 
intercession  for  us.    (Rom.  8,  32 — 39.) 

While  the  Gospel  is  the  object  of  faith  (Mark  1,  15),  it 
is,  at  the  same  time,  the  principle  of  faith.  The  gracious 
promise  itself  produces  the  trustful  faith  in  itself.  The 
Gospel's  fair  face  and  winsome  ways  win  the  will  of  the 
sinner,  and  beget  a  whole-hearted  confidence  and  a  fearless 
and  unconditional  surrender.  The  Gospel  speaks  with  the 
accents  of  downright  truth  and  transparent  honesty,  and  thus 
woos  and  wins  the  enemy. 

As  the  potter's  hands  form  the  clay,  so  the  Gospel  is  the 
formal  principle  —  it  gives  form  and  shape  to  the  faith.  The 
Christian  faith  is  no  more  and  no  less  and  none  other  than 
the  Gospel  makes  it.  "Faith  cometh  by  hearing,  and  hearing 
by  the  Word  of  God."  (Rom.  10,  17;  Eph.  1,  9.  10.  13; 
1  Thess.  2,  13.) 

This  Gospel  is  not  a  mere  teaching  about  God,  it  is  the 
power  of  God  unto  salvation;  it  is  a  living  and  life-giving 
and  life-changing  power.  This  Gospel  is  the  means  used  by 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  so  it  is  the  Gospel  of  our  salvation. 
(Eph.  1,  13.)  Of  His  own  will  begat  He  us  with  the  Word 
of  Truth.  (Jas.  1,  18;  1  Pet.  1,  23;  John  3,  5.  6 ;  1  Thess. 
2,   13.) 

In    common   with   the   Gospel,   the    Sacraments    are   real 


68  LUTHER    AND    JUSTIFICATION. 

means  of  grace,  through  which  the  Holy  Spirit  is  conferred. 
Yet  are  they  not  charms  that  work  in  a  magical  manner. 
Holy  Baptism  is  for  the  remission  of  sins.  Yet  it  is  not  the 
water  that  does  the  work,  but  the  word  of  God,  which  is  in 
and  with  the  water,  and  faith,  which  trusts  such  word  of  God 
in  the  water.  The  Holy  Communion  is  for  the  remission 
of  sins.  Yet  it  is  not  the  eating  and  drinking  that  does  the 
work,  for  he  is  truly  worthy  and  well  prepared  who  has  faith 
in  these  words,  "Given  and  shed  for  you  for  the  remission 
of  sins."  For  the  words,  "For  you,"  require  all  hearts  to 
believe. 

If  the  Gospel  is  the  divine  object  and  also  the  divine 
cause  of  faith,  then  this  Gospel  has  a  unique  dignity  and 
authority,  which  nothing  else  can  rival.  Bound  by  the 
authority  of  God's  Word,  we  are  bound  by  nothing  else. 
If  the  Son  has  made  us  free,  we  will  not  again  be  entangled 
with  the  yoke  of  bondage.    (John  8,  36;    Gal.  5,  1.) 

This  liberty  is  not  an  unbridled  license  or  a  chaotic 
anarchy,  it  is  a  liberty  in  Christ :  one  is  your  Master,  even 
Christ,  and  all  ye  are  brethren.  (Matt.  23,  8.)  Our  liberty 
is  regulated  by  Christ,  otherwise  we  bow  to  no  authority. 

In  this  Protestant  freedom  we  are  free  from  the  yoke 
of  the  Boman  tradition,  which  the  papists  place  on  a  level 
with  the  Bible  as  an  independent  source  of  knowledge  and 
as  of  equal  binding  force  and  authority.  We  are,  further- 
more, free  from  the  authority  of  nationalism,  which  holds 
human  reason  the  source  and  norm  of  spiritual  knowledge. 
We  are,  finally,  free  from  the  authority  of  Mysticism,  which 
places  an  inner  light  alongside  of  Scripture  or  even  above 
Scripture. 

2.  The  Effect  of  Faith. 

If  God  loved  us  to  save  us,  we  love  God  for  having  saved 
us,  —  we  love  Him  because  He  first  loved  us.    (1  John  4,  19.) 

The  love  of  God  was  not  an  idle  sentiment,  it  sacrificed 
His  only-begotten  Son  for  us;  and  our  love  of  God  is  not 
sentimental  moonshine,  the  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us. 
(2  Cor.  5,  14.)  Christ  is  our  righteousness,  also  He  is  our 
sanctification.    (1  Cor.  1,  30.)     Justifying  faith  is  the  potent 


LUTHER   AND   JUSTIFICATION.  69 

principle  of  holiness.  If  any  man  is  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new 
creature.  (2  Cor.  5,  14;  Rom.  5,  5.)  Faith  worketh  by- 
love.  (Gal.  5,  G.  22 — 25.)  Examine  yourselves  whether  ye 
be  in  the  faith.  (2  Cor.  13,  5;  Gal.  6,  4.)  It  is  the  Apostle 
of  Faith  who  has  sung  the  divinest  Hymn  of  Love,  in 
1  Cor.  13. 

Since  our  good  works  flow  from  the  fountain  of  our  love 
of  God,  since  they  are  the  fruits  of  our  faith,  they  cannot 
be  the  ground  of  our  justification;  they  do  not  precede  justi- 
fying faith,  but  follow  after  the  same.  Our  good  works  are 
not  merits  to  be  rewarded,  not  service  to  be  paid  for,  but 
they  are  the  tokens  of  thanks  for  mercies  received. 

This  truth  majestically  brushes  aside  the  whole  jungle  of 
papal  good  works  of  monks  and  nuns,  and  celibacy,  and 
fastings,  and  flagellations,  and  vows,  and  pilgrimages,  and 
rosaries,  and  penances,  and  satisfactions,  and  sacrifices,  and 
the  countless  host  of  saints,  male  and  female,  and  their 
glory  and  intercession,  and  we  see  no  man  but  Jesus  only. 

From  what  has  been  said  there  comes  into  view  the 
relation  between  the  Law  and  the  Gospel.  Though  both 
are  revelations  of  God,  their  functions  differ  fundamentally. 
The  Law  reveals  God's  holiness,  and  by  contrast  man's  sin- 
fulness and  condemnation.  The  Gospel  reveals  God's  grace 
and  man's  salvation  through  the  atonement  of  Jesus  Christ. 
By  the  Law  is  the  laiowledge  of  sin;  by  the  Gospel  is  the 
forgivenes  of  sin. 

The  Law  is  a  guide-post,  pointing  out  the  road  of  holiness; 
but  it  can  supply  no  life  and  strength  to  walk  the  path  of 
holiness.  The  Gospel  gives  the  spiritual  life  and  spiritual 
strength  to  travel  the  road  to  heaven. 

The  atoning  work  of  Christ  offered  in  the  Gospel  and 
received  by  faith  unites  me  to  Christ,  the  Head,  and  makes 
me  a  living  member  of  His  body,  the  Church.  And  so  the 
Church  is  the  communion  of  saints.  The  saints  have  com- 
munion with  Christ,  and  through  Christ  with  one  another. 
The  Church  is  not  Christ's  vicar  on  earth,  whom  I  must 
obey  in  order  to  become  a  member  of  the  outward  organization 
and  thus  a  member  of  Christ,  but   the   Church  is   Christ's 


70  LUTHER    AXD    JUSTIFICATIOX. 

servant,  which  ministers  the  Gospel  to  nie,  and  unites  me 
to  Christ,  and  thus  makes  me  a  member  of  the  Church. 
Christ  and  faith  in  Christ  is  the  basis  of  my  church-member- 
ship. The  Church  does  not  make  me  a  member  of  Christ, 
but  Christ  makes  me  a  member  of  the  Church. 

Where  is  this  Church,  and  by  what  marks  can  I  know  it  ? 
The  Gospel  creates  faith;  faith  makes  the  Christian;  the 
Christians  make  the  Church.  The  Church,  then,  is  where 
the  Gospel  and  the  Sacraments  are  in  use,  and  by  the  U5e 
of  the  Gospel  and  the  Sacraments  I  recognize  the  Church 
with  unerring  certainty;  and  there  is  where  I  belong.  The 
people  using  the  Gospel  and  the  Sacraments  form  the  con- 
gregation, or  the  visible  Church. 

In  this  visible  congregation  the  Word  of  God  rules  with 
divine  authority.  Human  rules  may  be  made  and  altered 
from  time  to  time,  that  everything  may  be  done  decently  and 
in  order,  but  human  rules  may  not  be  enforced  as  necessary 
to  salvation. 

From  justification  by  faith  it  is  an  easy  step  to  the  uni- 
versal priesthood  of  all  believers.  The  Old  Testament  dis- 
tinction between  priest  and  people,  clergymen  and  laymen, 
is  at  an  end.  Christ,  our  High  Priest,  has  made  all  Chris- 
tians priests  unto  God.  All  Christians  are  God's  clergy, 
and  so  there  is  no  special  clerical  order  in  the  Church.  The 
ministry  is  an  office,  not  an  order,  much  less  a  threefold 
order  of  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons. 

It  follows  that  the  Office  of  the  Keys  is  not  given  to  the 
hierarchy,  which  does  not  exist,  but  to  all  Christians,  who 
make  up  the  Church.  These  Christians  ask  some  one  to 
perform  the  functions  of  the  ministry  for  them,  in  their 
stead,  for  God's  sake.  And  so  the  Church  is  a  government 
of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people,  and  all 
Christians  are  the  people. 

And  so  we  are  the  people  to  have  the  Bible  and  to  spread 
the  Bible;  we  are  the  people  to  read  the  Bible  and  school 
every  boy  and  girl  to  read  the  Bible;  we  are  the  people  to 
interpret  the  Bible,  and  thus  separate  Church  and  State, 
and  permit  neither  priest  nor  politician  to  dictate  our  re- 


LUTHER    AND    JUSTIFICATION.  71 

ligion    or    our    i)olitics,    and    tlius    maintain    our    civil    and 
religious  liberty. 

Was  Luther's  teaching  **novel,"  "original  with  him"? 
Principal  Forsyth  says:  "Luther,  I  reiterate,  rediscovered 
Paul  and  the  New  Testament.  He  gave  back  to  Christianity 
the  Gospel,  and  he  restored  Christianity  to  religion.  .  .  . 
The  issue  which  is  raised  concerns  the  essential  nature  of 
Christianity."  {Borne,  Reform,  and  Reaction.)  Lyman 
Abbott  declares :  "Lutheranism  was  a  revival  of  Paulinism." 
{Life  of  Paul,  p.  327.)  Penan  says  Paul  has  "been  for  three 
hundred  years,  thanks  to  Protestantism,  the  Christian  doctor 
par  excellence."  D.  S.  Muzzey  says  "the  theologians  succeed 
in  identifying  St.  Paul  with  Lutheranism." 

III.  The  Effect. 

1.  On  the  Individual. 

John  Llenry  Newman,  the  famous  Anglican  and  later 
Roman  cardinal,  says  it  was  Luther's  "wish  to  extirpate  all 
notions  of  human  merit ;  next,  to  give  peace  and  satisfaction 
to  the  troubled  conscience." 

Oertainly  a  noble  wish.  Did  Luther  succeed?  Let  New- 
man say:  "Luther's  view  of  the  Gospel  covenant  met  both 
the  alleged  evils  against  which  it  was  provided.  For  if 
Christ  has  obeyed  the  Law  instead  of  us,  it  follows  that 
every  believer  has  at  once  a  perfect  righteousness,  yet  not 
his  own.  That  it  is  not  his  own  precludes  all  boasting;  that 
it  is  perfect  precludes  all  anxiety.  The  conscience  is  unladen, 
without  becoming  puffed  up."    {Led.  on  Justif.,  p.  26.) 

Well  put,  Mr.  Newman,  and  quite  true.  St.  Paul  said  so 
long  ago :  "Being  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  .  .  .  and  rejoice  in  hope  of 
the  glory  of  God."    (Rom.  5,  1.  2.) 

2.  On  the  Church. 

Mr.  Newman  says:  "Luther  found  in  the  Church  great 
corruptions  countenanced  by  its  highest  authorities;  he 
felt  them." 

History  tells  us  how  quite  unspeakable  were  these  cor- 


72  LUTHER    AXD    JUSTIFICATION. 

ruptions  in  teaching  and  living.  The  whole  world  tried,  and 
tried  again,  and  yet  again,  at  the  councils  of  Pisa,  and  Con- 
stance, and  Basel,  and  the  Lateran,  to  reform  the  Church, 
and  failed  signally  and  dismally.  Cardinal  Bellarmine  says : 
"Religion  was  almost  dead."  Yon  Doellinger  says:  "The 
last  hope  of  a  reformation  of  the  Church  was  carried  to  the 
grave." 

Where  all  the  world,  the  great  in  Church  and  State,  had 
failed  for  centuries,  Luther  succeeded  almost  instantly. 
How?  Mr.  Newman  says:  "He  adopted  a  doctrine  original, 
specious,  fascinating,  persuasive,  powerful  against  Rome, 
and  wonderfully  adapted,  as  if  prophetically,  to  the  genius 
of  the  times  which  were  to  follow.  He  found  Christians  in 
bondage  to  their  works  and  observances ;  he  released  them  by 
his  doctrine  of  faith."    (p.  386.) 

Mr.  Newman  was  bitterly  hostile  to  Luther's  "justifica- 
tion," and  left  the  Anglican  Church  for  the  Roman,  and 
became  a  cardinal. 

3.  On  the  World  in  General. 

"Luther  was  one  of  the  greatest  personalities  in  the  history 
of  the  human  race;  he  possessed  a  remarkable  and  fasci- 
nating individuality,  and  a  mind  so  masterful  as  to  dominate 
those  about  him  and  to  impress  its  stamp  upon  the  subsequent 
political  and  religious  history  of  the  world."  (Monsignor 
Jos.  H.  McMahon  in  Catholic  Library  Ass'n  Lect.  Course 
1913—4  in  Delmonico's,  N.  Y.  City.) 

"Luther  has  been  the  restorer  of  liberty  in  modern  times." 
(Michelet,  French  Catholic  writer.) 

"That  heroic  and  pregnant  No !  bore  within  it  the  liberties 
of  the  world."    (Francois  Auguste  Marie  Mignet.) 

"Its  beneficial  influence  has  been  felt  in  every  branch  of 
learning,  in  every  department  of  science,  and  in  every  insti- 
tution of  civil  liberty."  (Thomas  Home,  Bampton  Lec- 
tures, 1828.) 

"Luther  has  done  more  to  change  the  history  of  the 
world  than  any  other  man  since  St.  Paul."  (Dr.  Francis 
Clark,  in  Christian  Endeavor  World.) 


LUTHER    AND    JUSTIFICATION.  73 

4.  On  America  in  Particular. 

"The  principle  of  justification  by  faith  alone  brought 
with  it  the  freedom  of  individual  thought  and  conscience 
against  authority."    (Bancroft,  I,  p.  178.) 

"Free  and  representative  government  is  the  logical  con- 
sequence of  Protestant  Christianity."  (Laveleye's  Prot.  and 
Oath.;    Introduction  by  Gladstone.) 

"The  republic  of  America  is  a  corollary  of  the  Reforma- 
tion."   (Charles  Frangois  Dominique  de  Villers.) 

"The  inalienable  rights  of  an  American  citizen  are  nothing 
but  the  Protestant  idea  of  the  general  priesthood  of  all 
believers  applied  to  the  civil  sphere,  or  developed  into  the 
corresponding  idea  of  the  general  kingship  of  free  men," 
(Philip  Schaff,  Creeds,  p.  219.) 

"The  Reformation  of  Luther  .  .  .  introduced  the  principle 
of  civil  liberty  .  .  .  into  the  wilderness  of  IsTorth  America." 
(Daniel  Webster  at  Bunker  Hill,  June  17,  18-13.) 

"The  free  millions  of  the  United  States  may  well  rise  up 
and  do  Luther  honor  by  cherishing  his  example,  pondering 
his  history,  and  maintaining  his  creed."  (Bishop  Thorold,  of 
Rochester,  England;    Phila.  Press,  Nov.  10,  1883.) 

"Every  man  in  Western  Europe  and  in  America  is  leading 
a  different  life  to-day  from  what  he  would  have  been;  had 
Martin  Luther  not  lived."  (Dr.  Preserved  Smith;  also 
Froude,  also  Charles  Dudley  Warner.) 

"Our  civil  liberty  is  the  result  of  the  open  Bible,  which 
Luther  gave  us."    (Henry  Ward  Beecher.) 

"Look  around  and  see  .  .  .  Luther's  .  .  .  latest  fruits  in  the 
greatness  of  this  free  republic."  (Wm.  M.  Taylor,  LL.  D., 
Broadway  Tabernacle,  N.  Y.  City.) 

"Martin  Luther  .  .  .  the  instrument  of  God  in  giving  .  .  . 
all  that  we  Americans  now  enjoy,  and  all  that  we  rejoice  in 
being."    (The  Hon.  Robert  C.  Winthrop,  il/a5s\  Hist.  8oc.) 

"To  Martin  Luther,  above  all  men,  we  Anglo-Americans 
are  indebted  for  national  independence  and  mental  freedom." 
(Frederic  Hedge,  of  Harvard.) 

"America  has  been  the  greatest  beneficiary  of  that  noble 


74  LTJTHER    AT    MARBUEG. 

teaching"  (Luther's).    (Pres.  Eliot,  of  Harvard,  May  9,  1913, 
N.  Y.  City.) 

"Our  Constitution  still  reads:  'Congress  shall  make  no 
law  respecting  an  establishment  of  religion  or  prohibiting 
the  free  exercise  thereof.'  For  this  we  must  thank  the  Refor- 
mation." (The  Eev.  Prof.  Francis  Pieper,  D.  D.,  Pres.  Con- 
cordia Theol.  Sem.,  St.  Louis.) 


Luther  at  Marburg. 

Prof.  R.  D.  Biedeemann,  Concordia  Seminary,  Springfield,  111. 

"Deus  vos  impleat  odio  papae"  (God  fill  you  with  hatred 
towards  the  pope),  said  Martin  Luther  to  his  friends  in  re- 
ferring to  the  perniciousness  of  Roman  doctrines  and  to 
the  abomination  of  the  hierarchic  practises.  Protestants  in 
general  approve  of  this  famous  admonition  of  Luther  in 
regard  to  the  papacy.  Praise  for  Luther's  parting  words  to 
Zwingli  at  Marburg,  "Yours  is  a  different  spirit  from  ours," 
is  not  so  general.  Indeed,  Luther's  attitude  towards  the 
Zwinglians  at  the  conclusion  of  the  conference  at  Marburg 
has  met  with  unanimous  condemnation  on  the  part  of  all 
Protestants  of  the  unionistic  type. 

Says  James  Taft  Hatfield  in  The  Dial  (1911,  p.  528) : 
"His  [Luther's]  crude  superstition  is  very  unlovely;  so  is 
his  narrow  intolerance  of  religious  variation;  more  par- 
ticularly his  pig-headed  ugliness  towards  the  good  Zwingli." 

Bunsen  represents  the  occurrences  at  Marburg  as  being 
"the  deepest  tragedy  of  Luther's  life  and  of  the  history  of 
Protestantism"  —  by  fault  of  Luther.  (Acme  Library  of 
Standard  Biography,  1880,  p.  39.) 

Arthur  E.  McGiffert  has  this  to  say:  "The  most  notable 
example  of  Luther's  intolerance  was  his  attitude  toward  the 
famous  Swiss  reformer,  Ulrich  Zwingli.  ...  In  reading  the 
reports  of  the  Marburg  Colloquy,  we  are  inevitably  reminded 
of  the  great  Leipsic  debate  of  eleven  years  before.  As  Eck 
then  insisted  upon  blind  and  unquestioning  submission  to 
the  authority  of  the  Church,  Luther  now  insisted  upon  the 


LUTHER   AT   MARBURG.  75 

same  kind  of  submission  to  the  authority  of  the  Bible." 
(Articles  in  Century,  1911;  also  published  in  book  form, 
Martin  Luther,  the  Man  and  His  Work,  The  Century  Co., 
1911.) 

True,  at  Marburg-  Luther  once  more  "insisted  upon  blind 
and  unquestioning  submission  to  the  Bible."  At  Marburg 
Lutlier  once  more  applied  the  formal  i)rinciple  of  the  Refor- 
mation —  Sola  Scriptura,  Scripture  alone.  At  Marburg 
Zwingli  and  his  adherents  once  more  revealed  that  "spirit 
so  different"  from  Luther's,  that  rationalistic  treatment  of 
God's  Holy  Writ,  the  minimizing  of  doctrinal  differences  for 
the  purpose  of  external  union. 

For  years  that  ''different  spirit"  of  Zwingli  and  other 
" Sacramentarians"  had  been  in  evidence.  For  years  Luther 
and  his  colleagues  had  fought  this  ^'different  spirit/' 

Huldricus  Zwinglius,  of  Zurich,  Switzerland,  like  others 
of  his  age,  was  indebted  to  the  writings  of  ]\rartin  Lutlier 
for  the  knowledge  that  the  pope  was  not  the  vicar  of  Christ 
to  the  Church  nor  its  lawgiver.  But  Zwinglius,  "Reformator 
et  Pastor  Ecclesiae  Tigurinae,"  as  he  signed  himself,  had 
not,  like  Luther,  passed  through  great  inward  struggles,  was 
not  centered  in  the  comforting  doctrine  of  justification  by 
grace,  did  not  seek  every  means  to  enrich  sinners  with  the 
Gospel-treasure  of  forgiveness  of  sins  and  the  certainty 
thereof.  More  of  a  legislator  than  a  pastor,  Zwingli  aimed 
at  the  improvement  of  community  life,  the  reconstruction 
of  public  morals.  Political  reformation  was  predominant 
in  the  mind  of  Zwinglius.  To  him  the  Church  was  not  the 
spiritual  body,  nourished  by  the  spiritual  means  of  the 
Word  and  the  Sacraments,  but  a  social  institution,  entrusted 
with  the  responsibility  of  suggesting  laws  for  the  moral 
elevation  of  the  citizenship.  Zwingli  mixed  State  and 
Church  as  much  as  any  Romanist  might  do,  substituting 
Protestantism,  of  course,  for  Romanism  in  the  process  of 
amalgamation.  Zwingli  also  worshiped  the  beautiful  in 
letters  and  art,  adored  mind  in  man,  was  a  thorough  ration- 
alist, and  had  no  use  for  an  objective  Word  of  God  to  which 
subjective  opinions  must  be  subordinated.     Where  there  was 


76  LUTHER   AT   MARBURG. 

a  collision  between  a  Bible-passage  and  human  reasoning, 
a  textual  explanation  must  be  found  which  does  not  outrage, 
but  rather  satisfy  the  human  mind. 

Following  the  ''Vernunftprinzip"  (principle  of  reason) 
instead  of  the  "Schrift-pvinzip''  (principle  of  the  Bible),  it 
was  only  natural  that  Zwingli  drifted  away  from  Luther  and 
soon  became  his  opponent,  especially  in  the  doctrine  of  the 
Eucharist,  the  Lord's  Supper.  In  this  respect  Zwingli  fol- 
lowed Bodenstein,  with  some  variation  of  interpretation. 

Andreas  Bodenstein,  of  Carlstadt,  in  Franconia,  generally 
called  Carlstadtius,  at  one  time  a  colaborer  of  Luther  at 
the  University  of  Wittenberg,  had  since  1521  done  incal- 
culable harm  to  the  work  of  the  Reformation  through  his 
riotous,  fanatic  teaching.  His  operations  became  even  more 
destructive  to  the  Evangelical  Church  when  he  came  to  the 
front  with  his  false  interpretation  of  the  words  of  the 
Sacrament. 

According  to  Carlstadt,  Christ,  when  uttering  the  word 
rovxo,  this,  pointed  to  His  visible  body,  implying:  You  see 
My  body  before  you,  which  I  give  for  you ;  in  commemoration 
thereof  partake  of  bread  and  wine.  Thus  Carlstadt,  with  one 
stroke,  removed  from  the  words  of  the  Sacrament,  first,  the 
wonderful  truth  that  Christ  gives  to  the  partaker  of  the 
consecrated  bread  and  wine  His  body  and  blood;  secondly, 
the  consoling  message  that  sins  are  forgiven  to  the  com- 
municant; thirdly,  the  comforting  assurance  that  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ  received  with  the  bread  and  wine  are 
a  token,  a  seal  of  the  words  of  forgiveness. 

Although  he  took  sides  with  Carlstadt  against  Luther, 
Zwingli  did  not  emasculate  the  text  in  the  same  fashion. 
To  Zwingli,  the  linguist,  it  was  quite  plain  that  rovro,  this, 
must  refer  to  the  bread  and  the  wine  distributed  by  Christ 
to  the  individual  communicants.  But,  said  Zwingli,  the 
word  sari,  is,  in  the  institution  means  signifies  (hedeutet). 
Take,  eat;  this  bread  signifies  My  body,  which  is  given  for 
you.  Take,  drink;  this  wine  signifies  My  blood,  which  is 
shed  for  you.  This  treatment  of  the  plain,  sublime  words 
of  our  Master  was  first  published  in  Zwingli's  C ortimentarius 


LUTHER    AT    MARBURG.  77 

de  vera  et  falsa  relici'wne,  1525.  The  effect  of  Zwingli's 
interpretation  of  Christ's  words  was  the  same  as  in  Carl- 
stadt's  maltreatment  of  the  same  —  a  denatured  Sacrament, 
robbed  of  its  special  import  and  profit  to  the  penitent  com- 
municant. 

As  to  Luther's  simple  acceptance  of  the  first  and  direct 
meaning-  of  Christ's  words,  Zwingli  wrote :  "Est  opinio  non 
solum  rustica,  sed  etiam  impia  et  frivola,"  an  opinion  which 
is  not  only  rustic  (baeurisch,  farmer-like),  but  also  imi)ious 
and  frivolous.   (Ketter  to  Matth.  Alber,  pastor  at  Reutliugeu.) 

Of  one  mind  with  both  Carlstadt  and  Zwingli  was  the 
latter's  dear  friend  and  companion  in  vSwitzerland,  Johannes 
Oecolampadins  (Johann  ITausschein).  For  his  religious 
knowledge  Oecolampadins  was  also  indebted  to  Luther.  What 
is  more,  as  late  as  1521  he  had  fought  at  Luther's  side  for 
the  real  presence  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  in  the 
Sacrament.  Afterwards  he  shared  Zwingli's  position.  But 
to  reach  that  ground  he  must  blaze  a  path  of  his  own  in  the 
treatment  of  Christ's  institutional  words.  "Why  deprive  the 
word  ioTi,  is,  of  its  literal  meaning  when  you  get  the  same 
results  by  a  figurative  explanation  of  the  words  oibf^ia,  body, 
and  aiua,  blood  ?  "Body"  means  ''sign  of  My  body"  \  "blood" 
means  ''sign,  emblem,  of  My  blood." 

This  ingenious,  but  audacious  circumvention  of  the  plain, 
unquestionable  promise  of  Christ  to  give  the  very  body  and 
blood  which  were  sacrificed  for  us  was  publicly  pronounced 
by  Oecolampadius  in  his  book,  De  genuina  verhorum  Domini: 
Hoc  est  corpus  meum,  expositione,  1525. 

The  year  1525  produced  another  colleague  of  Carlstadt, 
Zwingli,  and  Oecolampadius  by  the  name  of  Caspar  Schwenk- 
feld  von  Ossigk.  A  mystic,  depending  not  on  the  words  of 
Scripture,  —  to  do  so  he  termed  "Buchstabendienst,"  slavery 
to  the  letter,  —  Schwenkfeld  claimed  to  know  by  special 
revelation  that  rovro,  this,  was  the  predicate  of  the  disputed 
sentence ;  the  words  must  be  reversed,  as  it  were :  My  body  is 
this,  namely,  the  true  bread  for  the  soul;  ^ly  blood  is  this, 
namely,  the  true  potion  for  the  soul, 

Valentin  Krautwald,  of   Silesia,   indorsed  this  Schwenk- 


78  LUTHER    AT    MARBURG. 

feldian  treatment  of  the  institutional  words.  One  Petrus 
Florus,  of  Cologne,  succeeded  in  finding  still  another  way 
of  juggling  the  sacred  words  of  Christ. 

Luther  cast  them  all  "into  one  and  the  same  pot."  He 
perceived  in  each  and  every  one  of  the  Sacramentarians  the 
"identical  puffed-up,  carnal  mind  which  twists  about  and 
struggles  in  the  attempt  to  avoid  obeying  the  Word  of  God. 
(St.  Louis  ed.  XVIII,  1541.)  As  to  himself,  the  very  dis- 
union of  his  opponents  in  the  exegesis  of  the  text  confirmed 
him  in  his  Christian  spirit  of  clinging  to  the  text  as  the 
only  way  of  knowing  the  truth  (John  8,  31.  32).  "I  am  hedged 
in,  I  cannot  escape:  the  text,  all  too  powerful,  is  there,  and 
does  not  suffer  itself  to  be  torn  from  one's  mind."  (Erl. 
53,  274.) 

In  1524,  Luther  wrote  his  "Letter  to  the  Christians  at 
Strassburg,"  where  Bucer  and  Capito  leaned  towards  Carl- 
stadt.  This  was  followed  in  1525  by  the  treatise  "Against  the 
Heavenly  Prophets  concerning  Emblems  and  the  Sacrament." 

Being  still  "busy  with  Erasmus,"  Luther  left  Zwingli, 
Oecolampadius,  and  Schwenkfeld  to  his  colaborers  in  the 
work  of  the  Lord.  (Letter  to  Nic.  Hausmann  at  Zwickau. 
St.  L.  ed.,  XXI  a,  792.)  Thus  Johann  Bugenhagen  —  Luther 
generally  calls  him  Pomeranus  —  writes  against  Zwingli  in 
defense  of  a  literal  acceptance  of  Christ's  words  in  the 
Sacrament.  Oecolampadius  rushes  to  the  aid  of  his  friend 
Zwingli.  The  Swabian  clergymen,  Johann  Brenz  and  Erhard 
Schnepf,  answer  in  the  name  of  fourteen  other  pastors  by 
the  "Syngramma  Suevicum,"  ably  defending  Luther's  doc- 
trine on  the  Eucharist.  Oecolampadius,  in  1526,  meets  the 
"Syngramma"  by  an  "Antisyngramma."  —  Another  list  of 
Lutheran  theologians  (Bilibald  Pirklieimer,  Theobald  Ger- 
lacher,  Urbanus  Rhegius,  and  others)  enter  the  army  of 
brave  defenders  of  the  right  doctrine.  —  A  new  feature  enters 
into  the  conflict.  Capito  and  Bucer,  of  Strassburg,  attempt 
the  role  of  peacemakers  by  minimizing  the  doctrinal  dif- 
ference, asking  Lutherans  and  Zwinglians  to  fraternize  re- 
gardless of  remaining  discrepancies. 

At   last   the   mighty   Luther   again   takes   up   the   battle 


LUTIIEE   AT    MARBURG.  79 

against  the  whole  field  of  Sacramentarians.  In  1526,  appeared 
his  "Sermon  on  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  against  the 
Fanatics."  This  was  followed  in  April,  1527,  by  the  tre- 
mendously powerful  treatise  "That  These  Words:  'This  Is 
My  Body,'  Still  Stand  Unshaken."  After  a  violent  illness, 
during  which  his  life  was  despaired  of,  Luther  resumed  labor 
on  his  book,  "Dr.  INfartin  Luther's  Confession  concerning 
Christ's  Supper,"  and  published  it  in  the  early  part  of  1528. 
This  book  is  remarkable  for  its  clearness,  depth,  and  force. 

Thus  did  tlie  controversy  rage  up  to  1529,  the  year  of 
the  Marburg  Conference. 

It  is  a  historical  misrepresentation,  however,  to  treat  this 
conference  as  the  culmination  of  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the 
theologians  to  bury  their  differences.  The  initiative  was 
taken  by  the  Landgrave  Philip  of  Hesse.  He  wished  to 
bring  about  doctrinal  union  among  the  Protestants,  in  order 
that  they  might  amalgamate  and  form  a  solid,  politico- 
military  body  against  the  aggressive  Romanists.  For  not 
only  did  Emperor  Charles  V  unite  his  power  with  the 
influence  of  the  pope  to  carry  out  the  Edict  of  Worms  and 
crush  Lutheranism,  the  papal  nuncio  Campeggi  had  also 
effected  a  league  between  Archduke  Ferdinand,  the  Duke  of 
Bavaria,  the  Archbishop  of  Salzburg,  and  a  majority  of 
bishops  in  the  southeastern  part  of  Germany.  The  avowed 
purpose  of  this  Catholic  federation  was  the  protection  of 
"the  old  faith"  and  the  strict  enforcement  of  the  Edict  of 
Worms.  In  their  realm  no  books  of  Luther  should  be  printed, 
no  student  from  their  territory  should  be  allowed  to  attend 
the  University  of  Wittenberg.  The  convention  at  Ratisbon 
had  the  fullest  cooperation  of  Emperor  Charles  V  in  its 
hostile  measures  toward  Lutheranism.  In  those  days 
Charles  V,  obedient  servant  of  the  pope,  sent  repeated 
messages  from  Spain  to  all  princes  and  bishops  of  Germany, 
demanding  that  the  Lutheran  heresy  be  crushed. 

It  was  then  that  Landgrave  Philip  of  Hesse,  Elector  John 
of  Saxony,  and  ^fargrave  George  of  Brandenburg  felt  con- 
strained to  form  a  Protestant  League  to  defend  the  Evan- 
gelical faith  by  arms.     Luther,  for  various  reasons,  did  not 


so  LUTHER    AT    MARBURG. 

indorse  this  course,  partly,  because  carnal  weapons  should 
not  be  used  to  protect  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  Christ; 
partly,  because  arms  should  not  be  carried  against  the 
emperor,  their  lawful  ruler;  finally,  because  those  that  were 
to  be  united  into  one  armj^  were  not  of  one  faith. 

How  to  eliminate  the  doctrinal  differences  among  the 
Protestants  became  a  burning  question,  not  so  much  from 
a  religious  as  from  a  politico-military  point  of  view.  There- 
fore Landgrave  Philip  of  Hesse  sent  invitations  to  the  most 
prominent  Lutheran  and  Reformed  theologians  to  meet  him 
at  Marhurg. 

The  invitations  were  accepted  with  alacrity  by  Zwingli, 
Oecolampadius,  Bucer,  and  Caspar  Hedio;  with  reluctance 
by  the  Lutheran  theologians.  Neither  Luther  nor  Melanch- 
thon,  Osiander  nor  Brenz,  were  favorably  impressed  with 
the  motives  of  Philip.  Nor  did  they  have  any  new  testimony 
to  offer  to  the  Sacramentarians  beyond  what  had  been  written 
in  public  for  ten  years.  The  Lutheran  theologians  also  appre- 
hended in  advance  the  malignant  judgment  which  would  arise 
among  their  adversaries  if  the  conference  —  as  it  was  bound 
to  do  —  ended  in  discord.  Through  the  "impetuous  impor- 
tuning" of  the  landgrave,  Luther  and  Melanchthon  "finally 
were  compelled  to  promise"  that  they  would  attend  the  con- 
ference. (Comp.  Luther's  letter  to  Johann  Brismann  at  Riga. 
St.  L.  ed.  XXI  a,  1339.)  Their  letter  of  acceptance  to  the 
margrave  concludes :  "May  the  Father  of  all  mercy  and  unity 
grant  His  Holy  Spirit  in  order  that  we  do  not  meet  in  vain, 
but  rather  with  benefit,  and  in  no  wise  with  evil  results." 
(St.  L.  ed.  XXI  a,  1326.     Comp.  XXI  a,  1935.  1937  ff.) 

After  they  had  accepted  the  invitation,  however,  both 
Luther  and  Melanchthon  did  their  utmost  to  win  the  Zwing- 
lians,  and  thus  to  prevent  the  very  failure  which  they 
predicted. 

By  Friday,  October  1,  1529,  the  chief  representatives  of 
both  parties  had  reached  Marburg,  and  were  received  by 
the  landgrave  with  great  kindness.  At  fii'st  he  had  placed 
his  guests  in  comfortable  quarters  of  the  city.  He  then 
changed  his  mind  and  made  them  all  his  personal,  intimate 


LUTHER    AT    MAHBURG.  81 

guests  at  his  castle.  These  were  Zwingli,  Oecolampadius, 
Bucer,  ITedio,  and  the  hiymen  Jacob  Sturm,  Ulrich  Funk, 
and  Rudolf  Frey,  all  influential  citizens  of  their  respective 
communities;  then  Luther,  Melanchthon,  Johann  Brcnz, 
Justus  Jonas,  Andreas  Osiander,  Stephan  Agricola,  Caspar 
Cruciger,  Friedrich  Myconius,  Justus  INfenius,  and  the  lay- 
man Eberhard  von  der  Tann.  The  conference  attracted  many 
visitors  to  Marburg  from  Cologne,  Strassburg,  Basel,  and 
other  places.  Very  few  besides  those  already  mentioned  were 
able  to  gain  access  to  the  interior  chamber,  which  adjoined 
the  office  of  the  landgrave.  Luther  and  Melanchthon,  Zwingli 
and  Oecolampadius,  were  seated  at  a  table,  in  front  of  which 
sat  the  landgrave  and  his  attendants. 

No  agreement  having  been  reached  in  a  private  discussion 
held  on  the  previous  day,  the  debate  was  now  resumed  before 
the  small  assembly  and  the  landgrave.  As  to  the  tenor  of  the 
debate,  a  witness  wrote  later  on :  "One  might  have  considered 
Luther  and  Zwingli  brethren  instead  of  opponents.  Once 
only  did  Luther  show  some  excitement,  when  Zwingli  pro- 
vokingly  remarked  that  the  passage  in  John  6 :  'The  flesh 
profiteth  nothing,'  must  'break  Luther's  neck.'  As  to  argu- 
ments, the  debate  was  at  no  time  carried  beyond  what  had 
been  laid  down  in  the  public  writings  of  both  parts." 

For  almost  two  days  Oecolampadius  emphasized  his  old 
argument:  that  Christ  has  a  true  body,  which  is  in  heaven; 
no  true  body  could  be  at  many  places  at  the  same  time. 
He  also  spent  much  time  with  the  sixth  chapter  of  John, 
concerning  the  spiritual  eating  and  drinking  of  the  Lord's 
body  and  blood,  attempting  to  identify  the  same  with  the 
eating  and  drinking  in  the  Sacrament. 

The  Zwinglians  tortured  John  6,  63 :  "The  flesh  profitetli 
nothing,"  as  an  argument  against  the  real  presence  of 
Christ's  body  and  blood  in  the  Sacrament.  It  amounted 
to  blasphemy  when  they  referred  these  words  of  Christ  to 
the  flesh  of  Jesus;  for  the  context  plainly  shows  that  mans 
flesh  is  meant,  which  profits  nothing  in  spiritual  matters. 

Luther  made  it  very  plain  that  there  was  no  connection, 
much  less  a  contradiction,  between  Jolm  <»,  r;:>  and  the  words 

Four  Ilundrod  Years.  6 


82  LUTHER   AT   MARBURG. 

of  the  Sacrament.  And  pointing  to  the  text,  "This  is  My 
body,"  which  he  had  written  on  the  table  before  him,  Luther 
exiDlained:  "Leave  it  to  the  almighty  God-man  Christ  how 
He  effects  His  presence  with  the  sacramental  bread  and  wine 
at  so  many  places  and  at  the  same  time.  What  He  promises 
He  can  and  will  do,  for  He  is  truthful.  There  are  some 
human  attributes  wherein  Christ  did  not  make  Himself  like 
unto  man ;  for  instance,  Christ  had  no  wife.  There  are  other 
attributes  wherein  He  far  surpasses  all  men,  powers  which 
no  man  can  have  in  common  Avith  Christ,  for  instance,  that 
His  exalted  true  human  nature  takes  part  in  the  omni- 
presence of  the  divine  nature." 

On  Sunday,  May  3,  Luther  preached  the  early  morning 
sermon.  He  did  not  make  a  single  reference  to  the  pending- 
controversy,  but  preached  about  forgiveness  of  sins,  justi- 
fication by  faith  (the  '^'^ilfa/eriaZprinzip"  of  the  Reformation). 
To  ignore  all  discord  at  that  hour  showed  great  tact  and 
gentleness  on  the  part  of  Luther.  Making  justification  by 
faith  his  theme,  he  also  clearly  revealed  what  article  of  the 
Christian  faith  was  paramount  in  his  heart  and  in  his 
theology. 

The  debate  was  resumed  after  service,  and  carried  into 
the  afternoon,  yea,  into  eventide.  As  all  hopes  of  agreement 
vanished,  Zwingli  ashed  with  tears  that  they  should  never- 
theless he  accepted  as  hrethren  in  the  faith.  It  was  then 
that  Luther  refused  the  proffered  hand  of  fellowship,  sup- 
porting his  action  by  the  sentence,  now  famous:  "Yours  is 
a  differ ent  spirit  from  ours."  And  Melanchthon  heartily 
agreed  with  Luther  in  such  refusal  of  a  union  without  unity. 
He  wrote  to  John  Agricola:  "They  pleaded  intensely  that 
they  should  be  called  brethren  by  us.  Behold  the  incon- 
sistency !  They  condemn  us,  and  yet  desire  to  be  considered 
our  brethren.  To  this  we  did  not  care  to  consent."  (St.  L.  ed. 
XVII,  1956.) 

Still  some  agreement  was  reached.  It  may  be  surmised 
from  a  letter  of  Luther  to  the  same  Agricola:  "But  we  did 
extend  to  them  the  hand  of  peace  and  love,  that  acrimonious 
articles   and  words  should  be  omitted,  and  that  every  one 


LUTHEE   AT   MARBTJRG.  83 

should  teach  his  opinion  without  hostile  attacks,  not,  however, 
without  proof  and  disproof  (nieht  ohne  Verteidig'ung  und 
Wider] egung).     Thus  we  parted." 

Before  they  parted,  Luther  formulated  articles  to  show 
how  far,  after  all,  they  had  come  to  an  agreement  in  other 
respects,  and  just  where  the  difference  remained  in  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Eucharist.  The  landgrave  had  been  the  most 
earnest  listener  at  all  sessions.  He  is  said  to  have  remarked 
in  public,  "Now  will  I  rather  believe  the  plain  words  of 
Christ  than  the  clever  thoughts  of  men."  (St.  L.  ed.  XVII, 
1950.)  It  was  the  landgrave  who  prevailed  upon  Luther  to 
formulate  those  final  articles.  There  were  fifteen  in  all  (not 
only  fourteen;  comp.  St.  L.  ed.  XVII,  1943),  and  they  were 
signed  by  Martin  Luther,  Philippus  Melanchthon,  Justus 
Jonas,  Andreas  Osiander,  Johannes  Brentius,  Stephanus 
Agricola,  Johannes  Oecolampadius,  Ulricus  Zwinglius,  Mar- 
tin Bucerus,  Caspar  Hedio. 

At  this  time  hoth  Luther  and  Melanchthon  were  more 
hopeful  regarding  the  Swiss  theologians  than  at  any  pre- 
vious time. 

Luther  wrote  to  John  Agricola:  "In  short,  they  are  un- 
trained people  and  inexperienced  in  debate.  Though  aware 
that  their  sayings  proved  nothing,  they  would  nevertheless 
not  give  in  as  to  this  one  article;  and  this  (as  we  are  con- 
vinced) more  from  fear  and  shame  than  from  malice.  In 
all  other  points  they  yielded,  as  you  will  see  from  the  placard 
sent  forth."   (St.  L.  ed.  XVII,  1955.) 

To  Wenceslaus  Link  in  Nuremberg  Luther  wrote :  "In 
short,  these  people  do  not  appear  to  be  malicious;  they  have 
fallen  into  this  notion  by  error  and  accident,  and  would 
gladly  be  extricated  therefrom,  if  it  could  be  done."  (XVII, 
1958.) 

Melanchthon  to  John  Agricola:  "I  am  perfectly  con- 
vinced that  if  the  matter  had  not  yet  gone  so  far  (wenn  die 
Sache  noch  nicht  eingebrockt  waere),  they  would  not  enact 
such  a  great  tragedy."    (XVII,  1956.) 

From  the  pulpit  at  Wittenberg  Luther  gave  information 
to  the  congregation  about  the  ^Farburg   Conference:     "We 


84  LUTHEE   AT    MARBURG. 

have  suffered  no  harm  on  the  way;  therein  God  has  heard 
your  prayers,  for  which  you  should  thank  Him.  Furthermore, 
our  opponents  have  shown  themselves  very  friendly  and  polite, 
more  so  than  we  anticipated.  They  admit  that  one  receives 
faith  and  consolation  in  the  Sacrament,  but  that  the  very 
body  and  blood  should  truly  be  there  they  cannot  believe 
as  yet.  And  this  much  we  felt  that  they  would  have  given 
in  if  the  matter  rested  entirely  with  themselves.  Since  they, 
however,  had  a  definite  order  from  their  people,  they  could 
not  back  down.  They  do  not  deny  that  the  true  body  and 
blood  of  Christ  are  present,  which,  therefore,  sounds  as 
though  they  were  with  us.  They  admit  that  those  attending 
the  Supper  truly  partake  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ, 
but  spiritually  only,  so  as  to  have  Christ  in  the  heart.  Bodily 
eating  they  will  not  admit;  that  we  have  left  to  thair 
conscience.  Therefore  the  matter  is  very  hopeful.  I  do  not 
say  that  there  exists  a  fraternal  union,  but  a  benevolent 
friendly  harmony,  so  they  will  seek  from  us  in  a  friendly 
manner  what  they  lack,  and  we,  on  the  other  hand,  be  of 
service  to  them.  If  you  will  all  pray  diligently,  the  friendly 
harmony  may  ripen  into  a  fraternal  union."  (Junius,  Com. 
Seek.,  Vol.  2,  p.  244.) 

All  these  quotations  certainly  breathe  an  ad^niraMe  spirit 
of  mildness,  patietice,  and  charity  on  Luther's  part.  The 
critics  of  Luther  at  Marburg  —  several  of  whom  we  have 
quoted  at  the  outset  —  have  not  sought,  much  less  considered, 
all  the  material  which  has  a  bearing  on  the  subject. 

At  the  same  time  these  quotations  show  that  Luther  made 
no  compromise  with  error  on  any  terms.  Therein  his  spirit 
stands  in  clear  contrast  to  that  of  Zwingli  and  his  adherents, 
especially  the  wabbling  "peacemakers  from  Strassburg, 
Capito  and  Bucer."  In  refusing  church-fellowship  to  the 
Sacramentarians,  Luther's  heart  was  perfectly  at  ease,  and 
his  mind  cheerful,  much  as  he  abhorred  discord  in  the 
visible  Church.  He  said:  "But  our  text  is  certain  that  it 
shall  and  must  stand  as  the  words  read ;  for  God  Himself 
has  thus  placed  it,  and  nobody  durst  take  away  or  add 
a  single  letter.     Fourthly,  you  know  that  they    [the  Sacra- 


LUTHER   AT   MARBURG.  85 

nieiitarians]  disagree,  and  they  make  conflicting-  texts  out 
of  the  words.  As  a  result,  they  are  not  only  uncertain,  — 
which  alone  would  be  enough  of  the  devil,  —  Init  are  against 
each  othej'j  and  must  accuse  each  other  of  lying.  But  our 
text  is  not  only  certain,  it  is  one,  and  plain,  and  harmonious 
among  all  of  us.  Fifthly,  granted  that  our  text  and  inter- 
pretation be  as  uncertain  and  dark  as  their  text  and  inter- 
pretation (which,  of  course,  it  is  not),  you  nevertheless  have 
the  glorious,  defiant  (trotzig)  advantage  that  you  can  with 
good  conscience  stand  on  our  text  and  speak  thus :  If  I  shall 
and  must  have  a  dark  text  and  interpretation,  I  will  rather 
have  the  one  spoken  by  the  lips  of  God  Himself  than  the  one 
which  proceeds  from  the  mouth  of  man.  And  if  I  should  be 
deceived,  I  would  rather  be  deceived  by  God  (if  such  were 
possible)  than  by  men;  for  if  God  deceives  me,  He  will 
render  an  account  and  repay  me.  But  men  cannot  repay  me 
(Wiedererstattung  tun),  after  they  have  defrauded  me  and 
have  led  me  into  hell.  Such  defiance  the  Sacramentarians 
cannot  have,  for  they  could  not  say:  I  will  rather  stand  on 
the  double  text  of  Zwingli  and  Oecolampadius  than  on  the 
single  text  of  Christ.  Hence  you  can  cheerfully  say  to 
Christ,  both  on  your  deathbed  and  on  Judgment  Day:  My 
dear  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  a  quarrel  arose  about  Thy  words  in 
the  Sacrament:  some  would  have  them  understood  dif- 
ferently from  what  they  say.  However,  since  those  men 
offer  me  nothing  certain,  but  only  confuse  and  perplex  me, 
and  since  they  neither  attempt  nor  succeed  in  proving  their 
text,  I  remained  upon  Thy  text,  as  the  words  read.  If  there 
is  anything  dark  in  them,  then  Thou  wantedst  them  to  be 
so  dark;  for  Thou  hast  neither  given  any  other  enligliten- 
ment  concerning  them,  nor  commanded  any  to  be  given." 
(Erl.  ed.  30,  302.) 

All  Reformed  church-bodies  look  back  to  Zwingli  as  their 
founder.  His  wrong  doctrine  is  characteristic  of  all  Prot- 
estant bodies  outside  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Of  the  same 
spirit  with  Zwingli  and  Oecolampadius,  and  especially  with 
the  "peacemakers  from  Strassburg,"  are  all  churchmen,  no 
matter  under  what  name  they  may  sally  forth,  who   favor 


86  LUTHER    AT    MARBURG. 

church  union  and  cooperation  in  the  Lord's  work  without 
unity  of  faith. 

What  Zwingli  and  Oecolampadius  and  the  peacemakers 
from  Strassburg  desired  was  practised,  for  instance,  just 
one  hundred  years  ago,  at  the  third  centenary  celebration 
of  the  Reformation.  King  Frederick  William  III  united 
the  Reformed  and  the  Lutherans  at  Potsdam  into  one  con- 
gregation, naming  it  the  ''Evangelical  Christian  Church." 
He  received  the  Lord's  Supper  under  an  ambiguous  formula, 
designed  to  please  the  Reformed  and  the  Lutheran  communi- 
cants. Aye,  he  appealed  to  all  Protestant  churches  in  the 
land  that  they  follow  his  example.  Such  unification  of 
the  Lutheran  and  the  Reformed  Churches,  brought  about  by 
simply  ignoring  the  differential  doctrines  of  both,  did  not 
find  favor  with  all  subjects  of  Frederick  William  III.  As 
yet  there  were  many  iDastors  and  laymen  that  were  imbued 
with  the  spirit  of  Luther.  They  were  made  to  suffer  for 
their  c©nviction.  The  events  of  those  days  stand  as  monu- 
ments to  the  "spirit  different  from  ours." 

The  most  prominent  "peacemakers  from  Strassburg"  in 
our  country  are  probably  the  pastors  of  the  Evangelical 
Synod  of  North  America.  The  confessional  paragraph  in 
the  constitution  of  that  synod  is  notorious  as  an  exhibition 
of  religious  indifference.  Paragraph  2  approves  of  the  inter- 
pretation of  Holy  Writ  as  laid  down  in  the  symbolical  books 
of  the  Lutheran  Church  a72d  of  the  Reformed  Church,  as 
far  as  they  agree  with  each  other.  Wherein  they  do  not 
agree,  the  synod  intends  to  hold  to  the  Scripture-passages 
pertaining  to  such  differential  doctrines,  making  use,  how- 
ever, of  the  liberty  of  conscience  prevailing  in  the  Evan- 
gelical Church.  At  all  the  altars  of  the  churches  belonging 
to  this  synod  the  Reformed  and  the  Lutheran  communicants 
are  equally  welcome.  Let  the  pastors  of  such  churches  ponder 
the  words  of  Luther,  whom  they  praise  so  frequently :  "I  am 
unspeakably  shocked  to  hear  that  both  parts  should  seek  and 
obtain  the  same  Sacrament  in  the  same  church,  at  the  same 
altar;  and  one  part  is  to  believe  that  he  receives  bread  and 
wine  only,  the  other  part,  that  he  partakes  of  the  true  body 


LUTHER   AT   MARBURG.  87 

and  blood  of  Clirist.  And  I  often  doubt  whether  one  dare 
believe  that  a  preacher  or  pastor  (Seelsorger)  could  be  so 
hardened  (verstockt)  and  so  malicious  to  bo  silent  about  this, 
and  let  each  part  go  on,  all  of  them  imagining  that  they  are 
receiving  the  same  Sacrament,  each  according  to  his  faith. 
But  if  there  is  such  a  one,  he  must  be  possessed  of  a  heart 
which  is  harder  than  stone,  steel,  or  diamond;  yea,  he  must 
be  an  apostle  of  wrath.  Far  better  than  these  are  the  Turks 
and  Jews,  who  deny  our  Sacrament,  and  freely  admit  it; 
for  by  these  we  certainly  remain  undeceived,  and  thus  do 
not  fall  into  idolatry.  But  these  fellows  must  be  the  right 
high  archdevils  that  give  me  only  bread  and  wine,  but  cau^e 
me  to  believe  that  I  am  receiving  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ,  thus  lamentably  deceiving  me.  .  .  .  Therefore,  who- 
soever has  such  a  preacher,  or  suspects  his  preacher  to  be 
such  a  man,  is  hereby  warned  against  him  as  against  the 
very  devil  himself."    (St.  L.  ed.  XVII,  201G.) 

The  spirit  of  the  Zwinglians  and  of  the  Strassburg  peace- 
makers —  frivolous  treatment  of  Scripture-passages ;  twist- 
ing of  the  text  to  meet  the  demands  of  human  reasoning; 
tendency  to  unite  by  ignoring  doctrinal  differences,-  or  finding 
formulas  pleasing  both  parts  —  this  "spirit  so  different" 
from  that  of  Luther  and  his  colaborers,  is  seeking  entrance 
into  each  and  every  Lutheran  synod  or  congregation,  no 
matter  how  firmly  they  may  have  formerly  held  to  the  tenets 
of  our  dear  Church. 

Let  us  beware ! 

References: — Luther's  Works:  Erl.  ed.,  Concordia  Publish- 
ing House,  St.  Louis,  ed.,  and  Weimar  ed.  Seckendorf,  Historia 
Lutheranismi.  Christian  Friedr.  Junii  Compendium  SecJcendorfia- 
num.  Julius  Koestlin,  Martin  Luther.  John  Lord.  Beacon  Lifjhts 
of  Eisfori/.  Wace  and  Buchheim,  Luther's  Primarj/  WorJxS.  Jolin 
Rae.  Marti)i  Luther:  Student,  Monk,  Reformer.  McGiffert,  Mar- 
tin Luther:  Tfie  Man  and  His  Work.  Preserved  Smith,  The  Life 
and  Letters  of  Martin  Luther.  Jolin  Tulloch,  Leaders  of  the  Ref- 
ormation. Richard  Newton,  Heroes  of  the  Reformation.  Dr.  W. 
Rein,  Lehen  Martin  Luthers.  Guericke,  Kirchengeschichte.  ^hi- 
thesius,  J.ufhcrs  Lehen. 


88  LUTHER    THE   FAITHFUL    CONFESSOR    OF    CHRIST. 

Luther  the  Faithful  Confessor  of  Christ. 

Prof.  F.  Bexte,  Concordia  Seminary,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

All  men  may  be  divided  as  follows :  such  as  know  nothing 
of  Christ,  hence  cannot  confess  Him;  such  as  know  of 
Christ,  but  reject  and  deny  Him;  and  such  as  truly  believe 
in  Christ,  and  therefore  alone  are  able  and  also  willing  to 
confess  Him  before  men.  And  just  such  confession  they 
should  look  upon  as  their  sacred  calling,  their  supreme  duty, 
and  their  most  noble  privilege.  Tor  to  confess  Christ  is 
but  a  solemn  way  of  preaching  the  sweet  Gospel  of  Christ. 
"Whosoever,"  says  Christ,  "shall  confess  Me  before  men,  him 
will  I  confess  also  before  My  Father  which  is  in  heaven." 
(Matt.  10,  32.)  Accordingly,  it  is  the  clear  and  unmistakable 
will  of  God  that  Christians  must  not  be  satisfied  with  know- 
ing Christ  in  their  minds,  believing  on  Him  in  their  hearts, 
and  acknowledging  Him  before  God  in  their  secret  prayers, 
but  should  also  confess  Him  and  His  Gospel  with  their 
mouths  and  lives  before  men  in  the  world  surrounding  them. 
This  holds  good  not  only  with  respect  to  the  apostles  and 
disciples  of  the  early  Church,  but  to  Christians  of  every 
age  and  place  and  time.  And  the  Lord  urges  this  noble 
Christian  privilege  in  phrases  both  solemnly  serious  and 
kindly  promising.  Why  ?  Because  Jesus  knows  what  courage 
it  requires  for  Christians  to  face  the  world  especially  in 
times  of  persecution.  True  Christian  courage,  even  among 
Christians,  —  what  a  rare  article  it  is !  But  the  Holy  Spirit 
enables  and  prompts  us  to  do  joyously  that  which  our  carnal 
nature  abhors.  Indeed,  wherever  and  whenever  needed,  won- 
derful heroes  are  given  by  God  to  His  Church,  undaunted 
witnesses  and  bold  confessors  of  Christ.  Among  the  bravest 
and  most  courageous  w^ere  the  apostles,  especially  Peter  and 
Paul,  the  martyrs  of  pagan  Kome  and  of  papal  Rome,  and 
many  other  heroic  witnesses,  down  to  the  present  day.  The 
man,  however,  who  courageously  confessed  Christ  as  few 
before  and  no  one  after  him  is  none  other  than  Dr.  Martin 
Luther,  whose  sacred  memory  we  celebrate  with  praises  and 
thanksgivings  to  God,  who  made  Luther  what  he  was,  blessed 


LUTHER    THE    FAITHFUL    CONFESSOR    OF    ClIHIST.  S9 

him,  and  made  liini  a  blessing  to  millions.  When  asked  what 
Luther  was  and  did  to  celebrate  his  memory,  no  better  answer 
can  be  given  than  the  one  suggested  by  the  words  of  Jesus, 
quoted  above:  Luther  confessed  his  Savior  before  men;  he 
was  a  faithful  and  most  courageous  witness  of  Christ.  And 
this  is  not  a  mere  assertion  of  mine,  but  plainly  borne  out 
by  the  facts  of  the  Reformation  history. 

1.  Where  did  Luther  confess  Christ?  —  Wherever  he  stood 
and  spoke,  in  private  and  in  public,  before  high  and  low, 
before  friend  and  foe,  before  individuals  and  great  multi- 
tudes. Luther  confessed  his  Savior  in  his  own  home  before 
his  wife  and  children,  his  servants  and  visitors,  and  especially 
in  his  daily  talk  before  the  numerous  guests  at  his  table. 
Luther  confessed  Christ  in  his  theological  chair  at  Witten- 
berg, lecturing  for  more  than  thirty  years  before  thousands 
of  students  from  all  parts  of  Europe.  Luther  confessed 
Christ  in  numerous  pulpits  of  Saxony  and  other  places, 
especially  in  the  two  churches  of  Wittenberg.  Luther  con- 
fessed Christ  before  the  common  people,  before  students, 
professors,  and  learned  doctors,  before  burgomasters,  princes, 
electors,  and  kings.  Luther  confessed  Christ  in  innumerable 
letters,  in  countless  sermons,  in  numberless  lectures.  Luther 
confessed  Christ  in  his  Latin  books  before  the  doctors  of 
the  European  universities,  in  his  German  writings,  especially 
in  his  translation  of  the  Bible,  before  the  German  nation, 
and  practically  before  all  Europe  (France,  Spain,  Italy, 
Holland,  Denmark,  Norway,  Sweden,  England)  in  trans- 
lations of  his  books,  and  through  scholars  trained  in  Witten- 
berg University.  Indeed,  Luther,  as  no  man  after  him,  was 
a  wonderful  witness  for  Christ. 

2,  When  did  Luther  confess  Christ?  —  From  the  day  the 
great  Gospel-truth,  "The  just  shall  live  by  faith,"  dawned 
on  him,  till  his  last  prayer  at  Eisleben,  "Thou  hast  redeeraeed 
me,  O  faithful  God,"  Luther  never  for  a  moment  ceased  to 
glorify  his  Savior.  However,  many  a  red-letter  day  rises 
skyward  as  a  mountain  peak  of  bold  confession  in  the  won- 
derful life  of  Luther.  When  he,  on  the  31st  of  October, 
1517,  nailed  the  Xinety-five  Theses  on  the  door  of  the  Castle 


90  LUTHER    THE    FAITHFUL    CONFESSOR   OF    CHRIST. 

Cliurcli  in  Wittenberg,  that  was  a  powerful  confession, 
which  reverberated  in  all  Europe.  And  when,  in  1517  and 
again  in  1518,  Luther,  before  the  legates  of  the  pope,  sol- 
emnly refused  to  recant  and  deny  the  truths  which  he  had 
proclaimed,  that,  too,  was  a  bold  confession  of  Christ.  Again, 
in  1519,  in  his  disputation  with  Dr.  Eck,  Luther  confessed 
Christ  and  His  truth  when  he,  with  startling  openness  and 
boldness,  declared,  "I  neither  believe  the  pope,  nor  the  church- 
councils,  nor  the  Eathers,  but  the  inspired  Word  of  God 
alone."  Another  bold  confession  of  Christ  it  was  when 
Luther,  in  1521,  on  his  way  to  Worms,  entreated  by  the  people 
to  return  to  Wittenberg,  declared  that  he  would  go  and 
confess  his  Master  in  spite  of  devils  as  numerous  in  Worms 
as  the  tiles  on  its  roofs.  And  when,  on  the  memorable 
18th  day  of  April,  Luther,  at  the  diet  of  Worms,  stood  and 
spoke  before  the  Emperor,  the  nobles  and  dignitaries  of  the 
realm,  and  closed  his  solemn  refusal  to  recant  and  deny 
Christ  with  the  words,  "Here  I  stand,  I  cannot  otherwise; 
God  help  me.  Amen,"  the  great  Reformer  had  reached  the 
Alpine  peak  of  Christian  confession  before  men.  And  many 
other  momentous  days  of  noble  confession,  e.  g.,  in  1529, 
at  Marburg;  in  1530,  at  Augsburg;  in  1537,  at  Smalcald, — 
days  too  numerous  to  describe,  —  grace  the  life  of  Luther, 
who  was,  indeed,  a  great  confessor  and  a  most  courageous 
witness  of  Christ. 

3.  And  what  did  Luther  confess  of  Christ?  —  He  con- 
fessed that  Christ  is  the  only  and  perfect  Savior  of  the 
human  race.  The  Romanists  urged  men  to  save  themselves, 
to  reconcile  God,  win  His  favor  and  earn  His  pardon  by 
their  own  efforts,  rosaries,  works,  and  penances;  they  glori- 
fied man  and  denied  Christ  and  His  salvation.  Luther,  how- 
ever, denouncing  all  this  as  heathenish,  and  preaching  the 
Gospel  of  pure  grace,  the  Gospel  of  reconciliation  with  God 
already  accomplished,  of  pardon  already  earned  and  fully 
granted,  of  the  justification  of  the  whole  world  already  pro- 
claimed, and  hence  the  Gospel  of  complete  salvation,  not  by 
works  of  our  own,  but  by  grace  and  faith  only,  —  Luther, 
preaching  thus,  confessed  Christ  to  be  our  perfect  and  only 


LUTHER    THE    FAITHFUL    CONFESSOR   OF    CHRIST.  91 

Savior.  The  Romanists,  persuading  tlie  people  to  trust  in 
the  sacrificial  mass  of  priests,  in  the  intercession  of  saints, 
and  in  papal  indulgences,  glorified  man,  the  priest  and  his 
work,  and  denied  Christ  and  His  sacrifice.  Luther,  however, 
condemning  all  this  as  sacrilegious,  and  urging  men  to  con- 
fide in  the  perfect  obedience  and  in  the  holy,  innocent  sacri- 
fice of  Mount  Calvary,  victoriously  proclaimed  Christ  to  be 
our  only  High  Priest,  and  His  death  as  the  only  atoning 
sacrifice.  The  Romanists,  compelling  the  people,  in  blind 
faith,  to  follow  the  pope  and  obey  the  hierarchy,  raged  and 
rebelled  against,  and  rejected,  Christ,  and  in  His  stead  estab- 
lished and  adored  the  great  Antichrist.  Luther,  however, 
condemning  all  this  as  antichristian  idolatry,  and  persuading 
men  to  listen  to,  believe  in,  and  follow,  the  divine  voice  of 
the  Gospel  and  the  inspired  Word  of  God  in  the  Bible  alone, 
triumphantly  confessed  Christ  to  be  our  only  Plead  and 
Master,  our  only  Prophet  and  King.  Indeed,  the  Romanists, 
even  as  millions  of  false  Christians  to-day,  flaunted  the  name 
of  Christ  and  His  cross,  but  disgraced,  dishonored,  rejected, 
condemned,  and  crucified  the  Christ  of  the  Gospel.  Luther, 
however,  glorified  the  true  Christ,  not  Christ  the  new  Law- 
giver, not  Christ  the  Judge,  not  Christ  the  wise  Jewish 
Rabbi,  not  Christ  the  great  Social  Reformer,  not  Christ  the 
wonderful  Healer,  not  Christ  the  great  Miracle  Man,  not 
Christ  the  Pacificist,  not  Christ  the  Millennialist.  not  Christ 
the  Ethical  Culturist,  —  but  the  real  Christ,  the  Christ  of  the 
Bible,  of  the  Gospel;  the  Christ  who  died  because  of  our 
transgressions,  and  rose  again  for  our  justification;  the 
Christ  who  made  God  our  dear  Father,  and  caused  Him  to 
pour  out  His  love,  grace,  and  pardon  on  a  godless  world  of 
lost,  condemned,  and  helpless  sinners.  Luther  was  a  faith- 
ful witness  of  Christ;  before  a  world  of  foes  he  confessed 
Him  to  be  our  perfect  and  only  Savior,  our  only  Proi)het, 
Priest,  and  King. 

4.  What  other  truths  did  Luther  confess?  —  Space  per- 
mits us  to  mention  a  few  only.  Luther  protested  against  the 
Roman  claim  that  the  pope  is  the  head  of  the  Church,  and 
he  confessed  the  truth,  "One  is  your  Master,  even  Christ; 


92  LUTHER    THE    FAITHFUL    CONFESSOR    OF    CHRIST. 

and  all  ye  are  brethren"  (Matt.  23,  8).  Luther  protested 
against  the  yoke  of  bondage  and  against  the  commandments 
of  men  with  which  the  Roman  hierarchy  loaded  down  the 
laity,  and  he  proclaimed  the  spiritual  freedom  of  Christians, 
and  urged  them  "to  stand  fast  in  the  liberty  wherewith  Christ 
hath  made  us  free,  and  not  to  be  entangled  again  with  the 
yoke  of  bondage"  (Gal.  5, 1).  Luther,  protesting  against  the 
godless  vow  of  celibacy,  proclaimed  wedlock  to  be  a  divine 
ordinance,  and  in  1525  confirmed  his  testimony  by  his  own 
marriage,  in  his  day  an  act  of  singular  boldness  and  true 
Christian  heroism.  Luther  protested  against  the  idolatry 
of  serving  and  adoring  Mary,  the  saints,  and  their  relics, 
and  he  stood  by  the  word  of  Christ,  "Thou  shalt  worship  the 
Lord,  thy  God,  and  Him  only  shalt  thou  serve"  (Matt.  4,  10). 
Luther  protested  against  the  Roman  Mass  as  a  sacrifice  for 
the  living  and  the  dead,  and  confessed  the  fundamental 
Christian  truth  that  Christ  by  one  offering  has  perfected 
forever  them  that  are  sanctified  (Heb.  10,  14).  Luther  pro- 
tested against  the  awful  Roman  doctrine  of  the  purgatory, 
and  he  confessed  the  sweet  Christian  truth,  "Blessed  are  the 
dead  which  die  in  the  Lord  from  henceforth"  (Rev.  14,  13). 
Luther  protested  against  the  Roman  doctrine  and  awful 
practise  of  persecuting  and  burning  heretics,  and  he  con- 
fessed the  truth  which  did  away  with  horrors  unspeakable, 
viz.,  that  the  only  weapon  of  the  Church  is  conviction  by 
the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  the  Word  of  God.  Luther  protested 
against  the  arrogant  claim  that  kings,  princes,  and  all  govern- 
ments are  subject  to,  receive  their  power  from,  and  owe 
obedience  to,  the  pope,  and  he  confessed  the  great  principle 
of  the  absolute  division  and  separation  of  State  and  Church, 
and  that  in  matters  temporal,  and  not  conflicting  with  con- 
science, the  pope  and  priest  as  well  as  all  other  citizens  are 
subject  to  Caesar.  In  a  similar  manner  Luther  championed 
truth  and  fought  error  wherever  he  met  it.  He  was  a  faithful 
witness  of  Christ. 

5.  Hoiv  did  Luther  confess  these  truths?  —  Genuine  con- 
fession is  the  unison  of  heart  and  mouth  and  life ;  and  Luther 
confessed  Christ  in  this  way.    Ilis  confession  came  from  the 


LUTHER    THE    FAITHFUL    COXFESSOR    OF    CHRIST.  93 

deepest  depths  of  his  heart,  as  the  spirit  of  his  prayers  and 
writings  testify.  In  veritable  streams  of  words,  spoken  and 
written,  Luther  confessed  Christ  with  his  tongue  and  pen. 
And  what  Luther  confessed  in  words  he  also  acted,  bringing 
his  whole  life  into  agreement  with  the  sentiments  of  his  heart 
and  speech.  Indeed,  Romanists,  unable  to  refute  his  doc- 
trines, have  for  centuries  resorted  to  vilifying  Luther  and 
besmirching  his  good  name.  But,  although  Luther's  life 
was  for  decades  an  open  book,  dailj^  read,  as  never  the  life 
of  a  man  before  or  after  him,  by  everybody  in  Wittenberg, 
foe  as  well  as  friend,  yet  the  traducers  of  Luther  have  not 
been  able  to  produce  as  much  as  a  single  competent  and 
trustworthy  witness  against  him.  Luther  lived  what  he 
preached.  The  whole  Luther,  his  heart,  his  word,  his  life, 
was  a  chord  ringing  harmoniously  in  the  confession  of 
Christ.  And  this  confession  was  rendered  with  the  effi- 
ciency of  a  chosen  vessel  of  God,  with  wonderful  ability 
in  everj'-thing  required  for  such  a  task  in  a  world  of  ene- 
mies, with  consummate  skill  in  the  use  especially  of  the 
German  language,  and  with  rare  wisdom  of  suiting  his  words 
and  actions  to  the  ever  shifting  situation.  And  withal, 
Luther  revealed  a  bold  disregard  of  his  own  safety,  and 
a  self-sacrifice  which  made  him  a  martyr  a  hundred  times 
over.  Luther  was  accustomed  to  saying  that  he  would  have 
his  body  torn  into  a  thousand  pieces  rather  than  deny  Christ 
and  Llis  Gospel,  rather  than  acknowledge  the  pope  and  his 
infamous  dogmas.  And  this  was  not  a  mere  bluff.  From 
1517  to  1546,  for  more  than  10,000  days,  Luther  attended  to 
his  daily  vocation  in  Wittenberg  with  ever  increasing  bold- 
ness in  his  testimony,  and  with  absolute  disregard  of  the 
papal  and  imperial  ban,  and  the  fury  of  his  numerous 
enemies.  Till  his  very  last  breath  Luther  never  for  a  moment 
lacked  the  supreme  courage  which  he  showed  at  Worms  in 
1521,  and  which  even  the  unbelieving  world  never  ceases  to 
admire.  How,  then,  did  Luther  confess  Christ ?  We  answer: 
Courageously,  perseveringly,  efficiently,  consistently.  Ali, 
yes,  Luther  did  confess  his  Master! 

6.    What   moved  Luther  thus   to   confess   his   Sariorf  — 


94  LUTHEE   THE   FAITHFUL   COXFESSOR   OF   CHRIST. 

Luther  answered  that  question  himself  at  Worms,  when  he 
declared,  "I  cannot  otherwise;  I  cannot  help  it;  I  must 
confess !"  That  is  what  the  fire  would  say  when  asked  why 
it  burns;  the  sun,  why  he  shines.  It  was  Luther's  nature, 
his  Christian  nature,  to  confess  his  Savior.  Luther  in  his 
own  heart  had  experienced  the  terrors  of  the  Law  and  the 
quickeuing  sweetness  of  Christ  and  His  Gospel;  hence  he 
cried,  "I  cannot  otherwise;  I  must  confess  my  dear  Savior; 
my  heart  is  full  of  Him!"  And  being  a  Christian,  Luther 
also  had  a  quickened  conscience.  When  his  enemies  cried, 
"You  are  a  heretic,  —  recant ;  you  are  a  rebel,  —  submit 
yourself ;  you  are  damned  and  cursed  by  the  pope,  — 
repent,"  Luther  did  but  —  could  but  —  answer,  "I  cannot 
otherwise;  I  must  confess.  I  would  stand  condemned  by 
my  own  conscience,  condemned  by  my  God,  ah,  yes,  con- 
demned and  rejected  and  denied  by  Christ,  if  I  should  refuse 
to  confess  Him  whom  I  know  to  be  my  Savior,  and  refuse 
to  proclaim  the  Gospel  which  I  know  to  be  the  only  truth. 
Warned  by  my  conscience,  I  cannot  otherwise;  I  must  give 
testimony  to  Christ  and  His  truth."  And  deep  in  the  heart 
of  Luther  there  was  that  burning  fire  of  love  for  his  fellow- 
men,  especially  for  his  own  dear  Germans.  "For  my  Ger- 
mans," said  Luther,  "I  was  born;  them  will  I  serve." 
Beholding  the  abject  slavery  of  his  fellow-men,  and  realizing 
how  the  Roman  hierarchy  had  taken  possession  of  their  prop- 
erty, their  family,  their  body,  their  soul,  their  heart,  their 
mind,  and  their  very  conscience,  Luther,  moved  by  com- 
passion, cried  out,  "I  cannot  otherwise,  love  constrains  me; 
I  must  confess;  I  must  deliver  them  from  bondage.  The 
Gospel  and  the  liberty  which  made  me  free  and  happy  I  must 
give  to  my  fellow-men."  To  save  and  deliver,  to  bless  and 
enrich,  his  fellow-men,  such  was  the  motive  that  moved  and 
impelled  Luther  to  sacrifice  himself  in  the  confession  of 
Christ  and  in  the  proclamation  of  His  Gospel.  Luther  con- 
fessed his  Savior. 

7.  And  how  was  Luther  confessed  and  achnowledged  hy 
Christ?  —  Being  a  faithful  confessor,  Luther  had,  according 
to  the  words  quoted  above,  been  promised  by  Christ:  "I  will 


LUTHER    THE   FAITHFUL    CONFESSOR    OF    CHRIST.  95 

confess  you  before  My  Father  which  is  in  heaven."  And 
Jesus  fulfilled  this  promise  by  giving  Luther  a  blessed  death, 
by  crowning  him  with  the  crown  of  life,  and  by  leading  him 
to  his  eternal  reward  at  the  hands  of  His  heavenly  Father. 
Jesus  kept  Ilis  promise;  and  He  did  more.  He  confessed 
Luther  also  before  men,  even  during  his  life,  and  down  to 
the  present  day.  Christ  blessed  Luther,  and  made  him 
a  blessing  to  many.  He  crowned  his  testimony  with  a  won- 
derful success,  such  as  was  granted  to  no  other  man  since 
the  days  of  the  apostles.  The  effects  of  Luther's  confession 
were  felt  far  beyond  the  boundaries  of  Germany,  in  Denmark, 
Switzerland,  Norway,  Sweden,  England,  Scotland,  France, 
Spain,  Italy;  and  to-day  they  are  apparent  in  all  Europe 
and  beyond,  especially  in  America.  Jesus  confessed  Luther 
before  men!  And  when  Antichrist  made  determined  efforts 
to  root  out  Lutheranism  in  the  Smalcald  War  of  1547; 
when  in  all  Catholic  countries  the  terrible  inquisitions  sought 
their  victims  by  the  thousands;  when  Lutherans  were  pub- 
licly burned  at  auto-da-fes;  when  wholesale  slaughters  of 
Protestants  were  inaugurated  in  Holland,  France,  and  Eng- 
land; and  when,  in  a  final  mad  effort,  the  Jesuits  kindled 
the  Thirty  Years'  War  in  order  to  annihilate  Protestantism, 
—  then  Jesus,  rising  from  the  throne  of  majesty,  stretched 
forth  His  protecting  hand  over  the  work  of  Luther,  with 
the  marvelous  result  that  to-day  160  millions  of  Protestants 
the  world  over,  directly  or  indirectly,  trace  their  origin  to 
Luther  and  his  Reformation.  Jesus  did  confess  Luther! 
Indeed,  the  innumerable  Reformation  festivals  celebrated 
every  year  all  over  the  globe,  what  are  they  but  public  con- 
fessions and  approvals  granted  by  our  Savior  to  Luther  and 
his  work?  In  this  year  of  jubilee  the  world  is  witnessing 
a  celebration  of  the  four-hundredth  anniversary  of  Luther's 
first  pul)lic  confession  of  Christ  in  1517,  as  was  never  wit- 
nessed before!  No,  Jesus  did  not  fail  to  confess  His  faithful 
servant,  neither  before  men  nor  before  His  heavenly  Father. 
Indeed,  we,  too,  are  glad  and  proud  to  be  among  the  hosts 
whom  God  has  blessed  through  Luther.  Yea,  as  members 
of  the  Missouri  Synod  and  the  Synodical  Conference,  we  are 


96  LUTHER    THE    FAITHFUL    COXFESSOR    OF    CHRIST. 

among  the  most  blessed  of  all  the  children  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, for  we  are  entrusted  with  the  Gospel  as  preached  in 
its  original  purity  by  Luther.  And  richly  blessing  this 
testimony  of  the  Gospel  among  us,  God  has  thereby,  also  in 
our  own  midst,  crowned  Luther  and  his  work.  The  Synodical 
Conference  is  a  twig  in  the  crown  of  glory  which  Christ 
has  placed  upon  the  head  of  His  faithful  servant  and  bold 
confessor,  Dr.  M.  Luther. 

8.  Fmallyj  how  should  all  this  affect  us?  —  Well,  we  are 
Lutherans  and  should  follow  Luther's  example.  From  the 
Word  of  God  we  are  convinced  that  the  Gospel  which  Luther 
confessed  is  the  eternal  truth  of  God.  And  if  it  be  true 
that  one  iota  of  the  Bible  shall  not  pass  away,  then  Luther's 
doctrine  pure,  drawn,  as  it  is,  from  the  Bible,  cannot  perish. 
Hence  it  must  be  our  privilege  and  duty  to  continue  in  these 
truths,  to  guard  them  from  corruption,  and  to  confess  them, 
even  as  Luther  did,  and  from  the  same  motives.  Continuing 
in,  and  confessing,  these  truths,  we  must  also  protest  against 
all  errors,  such  also  as  may  originate  within  our  own  Lu- 
theran churches.  Continuing  in  these  truths,  we  must  oppose 
the  false  doctrines  emanating  from  the  numerous  Protestant 
sects.  Confessing  our  Christian  creed,  we  must  with  all  our 
heart  condemn  modern  rationalism  and  liberalism,  which  for 
decades  have  been  blasting  the  very  foundations  of  our  faith 
and  torpedoing  in  mid-ocean  the  Ship  of  Christ,  the  Church 
of  God.  Above  all,  we  dare  not  ignore  the  "old  wicked  Foe," 
that  implacable,  unscrupulous  enemy  of  the  pure  Gospel  of 
Christ  and  its  confessors,  —  all  the  more  so,  because  it  is 
evidently  the  plan  of  Rome  to  regain  in  the  ISTew  World 
what  she  has  lost  in  the  Old.  "Romanize  America,  God 
wills  it!"  such  is  the  war-cry  of  the  Catholic  hierarchy  in 
America.  And  with  great  cunning  and  power,  and  in  sheep's 
clothing,  they  endeavor  to  accomplish  their  sinister  object. 
Rome  has  not  changed!  The  Reformation  has  but  hardened 
her  heart  against  the  truth,  increased  her  cunning,  and  made 
her  more  guarded  in  her  methods  and  modes  of  procedure. 
The  Council  of  Trent  reaffirmed  all  of  Rome's  arrogant 
claims    and    pernicious    teachings,    and    anathematized    the 


THE   THREE    PRINCIPLES   OF    THE    KKKOK.M ATION.  97 

Gospel  with  all  its  Protestant  confessors.  Down  to  the 
present  day  the  sole  authority  of  the  Bible  is  rejected,  and' 
Bible-societies  are  cursed  by  Rome.  In  1854,  Pius  IX,  de- 
, daring  the  dogma  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  gave 
a  renewed  impetus  to  the  idolatrous  worship  of  JMary  and 
the  saints.  And  the  same  pontiff,  in  1870,  declaring  the 
papal  infallibility,  capped  the  climax  of  Koman  x\ntichris- 
tianity.  Against  all  this  we  must  continue  to  protest  and 
confess  the  truth  as  Luther  set  the  example.  And  the 
patriotic  love  which  we  owe  to  our  country  must  constrain 
us  to  oppose  all  efforts  of  the  Roman  hierarchy  at  destroying 
our  American  liberties,  abolishing  the  separation  of  State 
and  Church,  and  politically  establishing  their  sectarian 
churches  and  schools. 

Such  is  the  debt  of  gratitude  which  we  owe  for  the  Refor- 
mation. God  blessed  Luther  that  he,  confessing  Christ, 
might  become  a  blessing  to  us.  And  God  blessed  us  tlirough 
Luther  that  we,  in  turn,  confessing  Christ,  might  be  a  blessing 
to  others.  And  if,  in  faithfully  confessing  our  Savior  before 
men,  we  follow  in  the  steps  of  Luther,  Christ,  wlio  did  not 
fail  Luther,  will  assuredly  not  fail  us  in  keeping  the  gracious 
promise:  "Whosoever  confesseth  Me  before  men,  him  will 
I  confess  also  before  My  Father  which  is  in  heaven."  So 
be  it !    God  grant  it ! 


The  Three  Principles  of  the  Reformation: 
Sola  Scriptura,  Sola  Gratia,  Sola  Fides. 

Prof.  Theo.  Engelder,  Concordia  Soininaiy,  S^jrin^ficld.  ]ll. 

The  Reformation  was  not  Luther's  work,  but  God's  work. 
None  knew  that  better  than  Luther  himself.  "God's  Word 
has  been  my  sole  study  and  concern,  the  sole  subject  of  my 
preaching  and  writing.  Other  than  this  I  have  done  nothing 
in  the  matter.  This  same  Word  has,  while  I  slept  or  made 
merry,  accomplished  this  great  tiling." 

It  was  God's  work,  but  God  performed  Ilis  work  through 
Luther.     None  knew  that  better  thnn  the  i)ni)ists  themselves, 

Four  Hundred  Years.  7 


98  THE   THREE   PKIXCIPLES    OF    THE   EEFORMATION. 

if  they  only  would  admit  it.  Boussuet,  bishop  of  Meaux, 
admits  it.  "Luther  is  the  trumpet,  or  rather  he  is  the 
thunder,  he  is  the  lightning,  which  has  aroused  the  world 
from  its  lethargy;  it  was  not  so  much  Luther  that  spoke  as 
God,  whose  lightnings  burst  from  his  lips." 

The  divine  truths  which,  voiced  by  Luther,  awakened 
men  from  death  (for  only  a  Romanist  will  speak  of  a  mere 
lethargy  in  this  connection)  were,  first:  Sola  Scriptura. 
That  was  the  reassuring  answer  given  to  the  insistent  cry 
of  men:  Who  shall  tell  us  the  truth,  God's  truth,  in  the 
matter  concerning  our  soul's  salvation?  The  very  first  words 
of  Luther  spoken  before  the  world  at  large  proclaimed  this 
principle.  It  found  utterance  in  the  opening  words  of  the 
Ninety-Five  Theses,  "When  our  Lord  and  Master  Jesus 
Christ  said — ",  and  in  their  conclusion,  "I  am  not  so  sense- 
less as  to  be  willing  that  the  Word  of  God  should  be  made 
to  give  place  to  fables,  devised  by  human  reason."  Those 
were  strange  words  for  that  day  and  generation.  Men  had 
been  wont  to  say:  When  aur  lord  and  master  at  Rome  says. 
Hus,  indeed,  had  lifted  his  voice  in  protest  a  hundred  years 
before,  and  Wyclif,  too,  before  him;  but  the  body  of  one  and 
the  bones  of  the  other  had  to  burn  for  it,  and  the  deadly  hold 
of  Antichrist  on  the  life  of  the  Church  had  only  tightened. 
But  now  Luther  was  raised  up  to  declare,  and  to  establish, 
too,  for  all  times,  that  the  question  of  indulgences  and  every 
other  matter  concerning  our  salvation  was  to  be  decided  on 
no  other  basis  than  that  of  the  saying  of  our  Lord  and 
Master  Jesus  Christ.  Scripture  is  the  only  source  of  the 
saving  doctrine.  No  man  has  authority  to  speak  for  God 
in  these  matters.  What  God  says  in  the  Scriptures,  that 
and  that  alone  is  the  truth.  And  the  full  truth.  Nothing 
must  be  added  to  it,  nothing  taken  from  it.  Not  by  the  pope 
nor  by  any  other  creature.  Poor  human  nature  is  bound  to 
set  up  an  authority  of  its  own,  and  if  it  cannot  be  the  pope, 
it  shall  be  something  else  just  as  human.  And  so  Erasmus 
and  Zwingli  began  to  inquire  of  reason  for  God's  truth, 
and  Muenzer  and  Schwenkfeld  thought  to  dream  spiritual 
dreams;    and  to  this  day  men  busy  themselves  in  setting 


THE   THREE    PRINCIPLES   OF   THE   REFORMATION.  99 

up  new  authorities,  or  rather  in  labeling  the  old  rejected 
authority  with  new  labels,  such  as  "the  best  thought  of  the 
day,"  "Christian  thought  and  experience,"  "the  Christian 
himself."  But  Luther  would  hear  of  no  fables,  devised  by 
human  reason.  "Erasmus  does  not  know  the  first  principle, 
the  basis  and  rule:  Holy  Scripture;  God's  Word  must 
remain  empress.  You  must  follow  straight  after  Scripture 
and  receive  it  and  utter  not  one  syllable  against  it,  for  it 
is  God's  mouth."  But  if  you  exclude  our  profound  reason- 
ings and  our  sweet  dreams,  the  Church  will  be  deprived  of 
some  needful  truth?  The  Smalcald  Articles  give  answer 
at  once  and  to  the  point:  "God  will  not  deal  with  us  except 
through  Ilis  external  Word  and  Sacrament,  and  whatever 
proudly  introduces  itself  as  the  Spirit  instead  of  the  Word 
and  Sacrament  is  the  very  devil."  There  shall  be  no  mis- 
understanding on  this  point:  "Nothing  else  than  the  Word 
of  God,  not  even  an  angel,  shall  establish  articles  of  faith." 
That  uncompromising  sola  —  "nothing  else  than"  —  is 
there  for  a  purpose.  Rome  was  ready  with  a  compromise. 
She  was  willing  to  acknowledge  the  authority  of  Scripture 
and  did  not  hesitate  to  extol  the  sanctity  of  the  Bible.  But 
it  must  be  Scripture  as  interpreted  by  the  Church,  or  the 
councils,  or  tradition,  or  the  teachings  of  the  fathers,  meaning 
in  every  case  the  pope.  So  also  Zwingli  and  the  other 
dreamers  of  dreams:  We  declare  the  Scriptures  to  be  the 
Word  of  God,  a  heavenly  Word,  a  glorious  Word,  yea,  the 
supreme  authority.  Our  philosophy  and  our  visions  shall 
not  and  do  not  supplant,  but  only  interpret  Scripture.  They 
serve  to  bring  out  its  hidden  glory.  But  Luther  would  have 
none  of  it.  He  knew  that,  if  it  were  not  Scripture  solely, 
it  would  not  be  Scripture  at  all.  If  reason  is  not  content 
to  let  Scripture  stand  as  it  is,  its  only  purpose  in  amending 
is  to  strike  out.  Passing  Scripture-truth  through  the  chan- 
nel of  human  reason  is  to  divest  it  of  its  divine  trutli  — 
else  it  will  not  pass  through.  The  condition  of  theology 
in  the  schools  of  Rome  demonstrated  that.  And  so  nothing 
else  than  the  Word  of  God,  not  even  what  you  are  inclined 


100  *     THE   THREE    PKIXCIPLES    OF    THE    REFORMATION. 

to  look  upon  as  a  messenger  from  the  very  throne  of  God, 
shall  establish  articles  of  faith. 

This  meant,  of  course,  that  all  articles  so  established 
must  be  received  with  unquestioning  faith  and  upheld  in 
the  face  of  the  opposition  of  an  outraged  world.  Luther 
so  understood  it.  They  might  rage;  he  would  not  retract 
one  syllable.  They  hurled  massive  tomes  of  popish  theology, 
reinforced  with  all  the  authority  of  the  schoolmen,  at  him; 
he  waved  them  aside,  as  not  coming  under  the  sola  Scriptura. 
They  sought  to  frighten  him  by  identifying  his  principle 
with  the  condemned  principle  of  Hus;  as  soon  as  he  learned 
where  Hus  stood  in  this  matter,  he  was  glad  to  identify 
himself  in  this  matter  with  the  blessed  martyr.  A^  Worms 
they  sought  to  impress  him  with  all  the  awful  authority  of 
the  Roman  Empire  —  terrestrial  and  infernal  Rome  — ; 
Luther  had  sworn  allegiance  to  the  Scriptures  as  the  empress, 
and  repeated  the  oath :  "Unless  I  am  convinced  by  the 
testimony  of  the  Word  of  God  or  by  clear  and  cogent  reasons, 
as  I  cannot  submit  my  faith  to  the  pope  nor  to  the  councils, 
which  have  manifestly  often  erred  and  contradicted  them- 
selves, and  as  I  am  bound  in  conscience  by  the  passages 
I  have  quoted,  I  cannot  and  will  not  retract  anything." 
And  all  Zwingli's  pleading  for  the  authority  of  reason  could 
not  move  this  rock :  "The  text  stands  there  too  powerful." 
Sola  Scriptura  with  Luther  meant:  "I  place  over  against 
all  sentences  of  the  fathers  and  the  artful  words  of  all 
angels,  men,  and  devils  the  Scripture  and  Gospel.  Here 
I  make  my  stand,  here  I  utter  my  proud  defiance.  To  me 
God's  Word  is  above  all,  and  the  majesty  of  God  is  on 
my  side." 

Why  did  Luther  insist  on  the  sola  Scriptura?  Not 
because  the  matter  was  interesting  to  him  as  a  mere  academic 
question;  he  had  no  time  for  the  discussion  of  mere  aca- 
demic questions.  Nor  was  it  because  of  some  obstinate  fiber 
in  his  character;  where  God's  Word  was  not  concerned, 
Luther  was  of  all  men  most  broad-minded.  Why,  if  it 
pleased  the  Church,  she  might  make  an  order  that  all  clergy- 
men should  wear  not  one,  but  three  surplices,  and  Luther 


THE   THREE    PRINCIPLES    OF   THE    REFORMATION.  101 

felt  himself  broad  enough  to  don  all  three.  Nor  was  it 
merely  a  question  of  morality.  It  is,  indeed,  the  height  of 
wickedness  to  permit  human  authority  to  usurp  the  place 
of  the  divine  authority,  and  it  is  a  crime  against  humanity 
to  cause  men  to  receive  the  opinion  of  any  fellow-man  as 
binding  upon  his  conscience  —  in  any  matter,  and  most  of 
all  in  the  sacred  province  of  faith.  But  these  considerations 
come  in  later,  inevitably  and  necessarily,  but  later.  Tlie 
chief  and  all-important  consideration  was  that,  in  seeking 
the  way  of  salvation,  it  is  fatal  to  follow  a  human  guide. 
For  all  men  are  liars  —  liars  when  they  construct,  liars 
when  they  reconstruct,  the  doctrine.  Here  is  no  room  for 
man-made  dogmas.  God's  truth  alone  will  answer  —  "nothing 
but  the  Scriptures."  And  so  Luther  declared  to  the  end, 
declared  it  in  his  last  sermon  preached  in  Wittenberg: 
"I  shall  swerve  not  one  finger's  breadth  from  the  mouth  of 
Him  who  said:    "Hear  ye  Him." 

Hearing  Him  and  Him  alone,  Luther  learned  a  glorious 
truth.  Two  words  —  and  all  Scripture  was  written  for  their 
sake  — ;  two  words  —  and  all  spiritual  life,  and  so  also  the 
life  of  the  Reformation,  sprung  from  them  — :  sola  gratia. 
They  tell  the  despairing  sinner  that  God,  in  His  infinite 
mercy,  has  laid  all  the  sins  of  the  world  on  Jesus;  that  he 
is  not  required  to  bring  about  his  salvation  by  his  own  works; 
that  his  sins  are  forgiven  him  freely,  by  grace.  —  Rome 
had  established  a  different  doctrine:  Man  is  justified,  wholly 
or  in  part,  by  his  own  merit.  How  firmly  this  damnable 
doctrine  was  established !  Even  the  preaching  of  Hus  and 
Wyclif  was  yet  somewhat  tainted  with  it.  It  pleases  the 
natural  man  to  be  told  that  he  can  be  his  own  savior.  He 
was  even  willing,  in  the  interest  of  human  merit,  to  commit 
the  vile  abomination  of  having  the  pope  sell  him  letters  of 
pardon,  because,  forsooth,  they  were  drawn  on  the  surplus 
holiness  deposited  by  the  saints  of  Rome  in  Rome's  keepin'^-. 
And  they  who  were  not  willing  to  accept  this  worthless  paper 
were  still  ready  to  commit  an  abomination  equally  as  vile : 
to  offer  God  in  heaven  their  own  spurious  holiness  in  pay- 
ment for  eternal  salvation.     Over  against  this  natural  ]irin- 


102  THE   THREE    PEIXCIPLES    OF   THE   REFORMATION. 

ciple  Luther  declared:  "The  true  treasure  of  the  Church  is 
the  holy  Gospel  of  the  glory  and  grace  of  God."  (Thesis  62.) 
It  formed  the  burden  of  all  his  teaching,  as  it  is  the  heart 
of  Scripture:  "Grace  brings  about  this  great  thing  that 
we  are  accounted  wholly  and  fully  just  before  God." 

Luther  and  his  fellow-laborers  knew  the  supreme  im- 
portance of  this  article,  and  no  power  in  earth  and  hell  couM 
move  them  to  yield  it.  '^Let  us,  therefore,  hold  it  for  certain 
and  firmly  established  that  the  soul  can  do  without  every- 
thing except  the  Word  of  God,  the  Gospel  concerning  His 
Son,  incarnate,  suffering,  risen,  and  glorified."  Lender  the 
principle  of  justification  through  self-righteousness  Luther 
had  been  groping  in  darkness,  sinking  into  despair;  bnt 
when  the  principle  of  justification  by  faith  lodged  :'n  his 
soul,  "then  the  whole  Scripture  was  opened  to  me  and  also 
heaven  itself.  Lnmediately  I  felt  as  if  born  anew,  as  if 
I  had  found  the  open  gate  of  paradise."  How  could  thev 
yield  this  glorious  truth?  Unless  we  obtain,  says  the  Apology, 
remission  of  sin  through  Christ,  there  can  be  no  remission, 
for  if  salvation  be  by  the  Law,  the  wdiole  Law  must  be  kept; 
but  pious  souls  know  they  cannot  keep  the  law;  and  there 
is  nothing  left  but  despair.  So  when  all  pious  souls  implored 
them  to  stand  fast,  they  gave  answer  in  the  Smalcald  Arti- 
cles: "Whatever  may  happen,  though  heaven  and  earth 
should  fall,  nothing  in  this  article  can  be  yielded  or  rescinded. 
(Acts  4,  2;  Is.  53,  3.)  We  must,  therefore,  be  entirely 
certain  of  this  and  not  doubt  it,  otherwise  all  will  be  lost, 
and  the  devil  and  our  opponents  will  prevail  and  obtain 
the  victory." 

Nothing  in  this  article  can  be  yielded.  Here  was  Rome 
offering  another  compromise.  She  was  ready  to  make  copious 
use  of  the  word  grace,  but  the  sola  must  be  yielded,  and 
a  place,  be  it  ever  so  small,  granted  to  human  merit.  But 
Luther  stood  out  for  the  sola.  If  our  justification  depends 
on  one  single  good  work,  our  case  is  hopeless,  for  that  one 
good  work  will  ever  be  lacking,  and  the  honest  soul  knows 
it  to  its  despair.  Nor  would  Luther  suffer  the  man  of  sin 
to  belie  the  glorious  riches  of  the  grace  of  God  by  denying 


THE  THREE  PRINCIPLES  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  103 

that  God  is  willing  to  do  it  all.  "Grace  will  not  be  halved 
nor  quartered,  but  receives  us  wholly  and  completely  into 
favor."  Luther  knew,  as  Augustine  knew  before  him,  that 
grace  is  not  grace  in  any  way,  if  it  be  not  freely  {gratis) 
given  in  every  way,  and  he  knew  that  the  pope  knew  it,  too. 
To  compromise  on  the  pope's  terms  meant,  here  as  always, 
a  complete  surrender  to  him.  He  stood  for  justification 
through  works  alone.  He  knew  that  if  one  good  work  were 
granted  to  corrupt  nature,  all  good  works  would  have  to  be 
granted;  again,  that  if  men  were  permitted  to  think  of 
works  in  connection  with  grace,  they  would  think  of  works 
alone  and  of  grace  not  at  all.  He  did,  indeed,  diligently  use 
the  word  grace  and  even  consented  to  describe  the  merit  of 
Christ  as  superabundant,  but  not  only  did  he  make  the 
efficacy  of  this  superabundance  dependent  on  human  worthi- 
ness, thus  subtracting  one  half  from  grace,  and  so  leaving 
nothing  of  grace,  he  also  deliberately  divested  the  word  grace 
of  its  Scriptural  meaning,  and  gave  it  the  meaning  of  human 
holiness.  Xo  doubt,  on  these  terms  he  was  ready  to  make 
diligent  use  of  the  word  grace.  It  did  not  take  Melanchthon 
long  to  see  through  the  trickery,  and  he  indignantly  ex- 
claimed :  "The  fool"  (meaning  Eck,  Rome's  emissary)  "docs 
not  understand  the  word* grace."  And  in  order  to  make  him 
iniderstand,  sola  was  put  in.  It  had  to  be  either  the  prin- 
ciple of  Rome:  Justification  through  human  merit  alone, 
or  the  principle  of  Scripture:  Justification  by  grace  alone. 
And  that  means :  Salvation  by  grace  alone,  salvation  in 
every  respect,  from  beginning  to  end.  When  a  man  once 
sincerely  accepts  the  article  of  justification  hy  grace  alone, 
what  happens?  "This  one  article  rules  my  heart,  namely, 
faith  in  Christ,  out  of  which  by  day  and  night  all  my 
theological  thoughts  flow,  by  wdiich  they  move,  to  which  they 
return."  Xow  he  sees  grace  everywhere.  For  "now  the 
whole  Scripture  was  opened  to  me."  And  Scripture,  you 
know,  does  not  halve  nor  quarter  grace.  If  grace  is  any- 
where, it  is  everywhere,  ^fen  are  willing  to  speak  of  justifi- 
cation by  grace  alone,  but  they  restrict  grace  to  that  one 
point.     But  if  a  man  is  not  absolutely'  in  need  of  grace  in 


104  THE    THREE    PRIXCIPLES    OF   THE    REFORMATION. 

conversion,  he  does  not  absolutely  need  it  in  justification. 
Therefore  Luther  rejected  and  condemned  "as  erroneous  all 
doctrines  which  extol  our  free  will,  as  they  are  directly 
opposed  to  the  aid  and  grace  of  our  Savior  Jesus  Christ.'' 
And  the  Formula  of  Concord  adds  the  indorsement:  "The 
Holy  Scriptures  ascribe  man's  conversion,  faith  in  Christ, 
regeneration,  renovation,  and  all  that  pertains  to  the  actual 
connnencement  and  accomplishment  of  them,  not  to  the 
human  powers  of  the  natural  free  will,  either  as  to  the  whole 
or  the  half  or  the  least  or  most  insignificant  part,  but  in 
solidum,  that  is,  w^holly  and  entirely,  to  the  divine  operation." 
You  cannot  deny  grace  at  one  point,  and  trust  in  it  at 
another;  and  he  who  waits  to  be  converted  without  grace, 
will  never  reach  justification  by  grace.  All  theological 
thoughts  of  the  Reformation  had  but  one  source :  sola  gratia. 
We  love  the  word  and  pronounce  it  at  every  step  of  our 
salvation. 

Sola  gratia  and  sola  Scriptura  go  together.  Witness  the 
pope  and  Erasmus  and  the  rest  —  because  they  held  the  sola 
gratia  in  abomination,  they  detested  the  sola  Scriptura.  And 
because  justification  by  grace  is  not  found  in  any  human 
authority,  God  gave  us  the  Scriptures.  If  we  yield  the  sola 
Scriptura,  we  lose  the  sola  gratia.  And  the  more  we  love 
the  article  of  justification  by  grace,  the  more  we  despise  — 
in  this  matter  —  all  human  authority. 

In  order  to  uphold  the  sola  gratia,  it  became  necessary 
to  emphasize  another  truth:  sola  fides.  To  us  it  is  very  clear 
that  a  free  promise  requires  only  acceptance,  that  is,  faith, 
and  excludes  payments,  that  is,  works,  —  considered  as  pay- 
ment. Justification  by  grace  means,  and  can  only  mean, 
justification  through  faith.  But  the  perversion  of  Rome 
made  it  necessary  to  emphasize  it,  and  Luther  always  did  it. 
"To  preach  Christ  is  to  justify  the  soul  and  to  save  it,  if 
it  believe  the  preaching.  —  For  the  Word  of  God  cannot  be 
received  and  honored  by  any  works,  but  by  faith  alone. 
Hence  it  is  clear  that  as  the  soul  needs  the  Word  alone  for 
faith  and  justification,  so  it  is  justified  by  faith  alone,  and 
not  by  any  works." 


THE   THREE    PRIXCIPLES    OF    THE    REFOKMATIOX.  105 

There  is  that  Lutheran  sola  again.  There  was  nothing 
to  be  gotten  from  this  man  Luther.  And  how  they  hated 
his  spiritual  insight  and  resultant  "obstinacy" !  We  h^ar 
the  plaint  of  the  pope's  man,  Cajetan:  "I  have  no  desire 
to  dispute  further  with  this  beast,  for  he  has  penetrating 
eyes,  and  wonderful  thoughts  revolve  in  his  head."  —  Here 
Antichrist  was  making  his  hist  stand.  If  he  could  establish 
the  position  that  man  is  justified  not  alone  by  faith,  but 
also  by  works,  he  would  win,  for  it  would  then  no  longer 
be  grace  in  every  respect  and  so  not  grace  at  all.  And  Luther 
had  penetrating  eyes,  and  knew  there  could  be  no  joyful 
acceptance  of  the  promise,  no  spiritual  life,  no  Reforma- 
tion, without  these  four  letters:  sola.  When  he,  therefore, 
preached  on  justification,  he  would  read  the  text  iii  this  wise: 
"We  conclude  that  a  man  is  justified  by  faith  alone,  without 
the  deeds  of  the  Law."  Rome  moved  heaven  and  earth  to 
have  that  anti-Roman  "alone"  stricken  out,  and  even  spoke 
of  forgery,  but  Luther  patiently  explained  to  them  that  tl^.e 
word  always  was  there,  plain  to  the  Christian  eye,  and  that 
merely  because  of  their  blindness  it  had  to  be  written  large. 
To  strike  it  out  would  mean  the  elimination  of  faith.  For, 
as  above,  give  man  one  little  work  to  look  at,  and  he  will 
see  nothing  else;  pride  will  take  the  place  of  faith,  and 
shortly  despair  will  take  the  place  of  pride.  Also  Luther's 
penetrating  eyes  saw  at  once  that  Rome's  object  was  to  make 
it  not  faith  a7id  works,  but. works  alone.  For  that  purpose 
the  word  faith  was  given  a  new  meaning,  and  they  tried 
to  impose  on  Melanchthon  with  their  new  word.  But  Luther 
told  him:  "You  write  that  you  have  forced  Eck  to  admit 
that  we  are  justified  by  faith.  I  wish  you  had  forced  him 
not  to  lie."  In  the  Roman  dictionary  faith  now  means  some- 
thing which  receives  its  value  from  works.  It  justifies  because 
it  leads  men  to  keep  the  Ten  Commandments.  There  faith 
and  works  are  synonyms.  Melanchthon,  of  course,  could 
not  force  Eck  not  to  lie,  but  the  thing  to  do  in  such  a  case 
he  did  do:  he  fully  exposed,  in  the  Apology,  the  lie,  the 
"sophistry  fabricated  by  these  ungodly  men."  And  so  it 
remained  sola  fide,  and  so  the  sola  gratia  was  established,  and 
so  the  Reformation  pursued  its  divine  way. 


106  THE  THREE   PRINCIPLES   OF  THE  EEFOBMATION. 

Faith  alone,  but  faith  indeed.  It  became  the  business 
of  the  Kef  ormation  to  teach  men  to  believe,  that  is,  to  appro- 
priate, every  man  to  himself,  the  promise  of  the  Gospel  with 
joyful  confidence.  In  the  old  shameful  days  men  had  been 
led  to  think  they  had  faith  M^hen  they  gave  an  unthinking- 
assent  to  whatever  it  pleased  the  priest  to  tell  them,  and  the 
priest  did  not  even  have  to  tell  them  exactly  what  it  was,  and 
men  were  warned  against  being  certain  of  their  salvation 
as  against  wicked  presumptuousness.  If  once  living  faith 
took  the  place  of  this  ignorant,  doubting,  dead  "faith,"  the 
rule  of  Rome  was  doomed.  So  Cajetan  had  orders,  right  in 
the  beginning,  to  induce  Luther  to  retract  the  statement 
that  a  person  desiring  to  receive  the  Sacrament  of  the  Altar 
must  have  faith  of  his  own.  But  what  Rome  hated  above 
i.all__tliiiigs  Luther  prized  above  all  things.  He  knew  that 
the  Word  of  promise  calls  for  iindoubting  faith,  and  he  knew 
that  only  in  faith  there  is  life  and  joy  and  holiness,  and, 
what  is  more,  he  knew  that,  where  this  promise  is  preached, 
"faith  is  always  and  ever  called  forth  and  nourished." 

So  when  after  the  days  of  Augsburg  an  imperial  edict 
forbade  under  pain  of  death  the  preaching  of  justification 
by  faith  alone,  as  subversive  of  all  decency,  Luther  published 
an  edict  of  his  own,  which  provided:  "Whereas  Satan  will 
not  refrain  nor  desist  from  blaspheming  this  chief  article, 
therefore  I,  Dr.  Martinus  Luther,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ's 
unworthy  evangelist,  do  say  and  pronounce  that  this  article 
shall  stand  and  abide  in  spite  of  the  Roman  Emperor,  the 
Tartar  Emperor,  the  Persian  Emperor,  the  pope,  all  cardinals, 
bishops,  priests,  monks,  nuns,  kings,  princes,  all  the  world 
together  with  all  evil  spirits."  He  established  further  in  this 
Lutheran  edict  that  this  faith  which  alone  justifies  alone 
produces  that  godly  life  which  Rome  had  succeeded  in  com- 
pletely destroying  in  her  domain.  And  then  he  bids  defiance 
to  them  all:  "That  is  our  doctrine,  and  so  teaches  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  the  whole  Christian  Church,  and  therein  we  shall 
abide  in  the  name  of  God.     Amen." 

There  is  no  question  that  this  article:  salvation  by  grace 
through  faith  as  taught  by  the  Scriptures,  is  the  essence  of 


THE  THREE  PRINCIPLES   OF   THE   REFORMATION.  107 

Luther's  teaching.  We  have  Rome's  testimony  to  that  effect. 
Why  else  did  she  order  all  of  his  books  to  be  burned? 

And  these  six  words  —  sola  Scriptura,  sola  gratia,  sola 
fides  —  gave  new  life  to  the  dying  Church.  There  can  be 
no  question  about  that  either.  Some  few  would  like  to 
question  it.  They  say  the  Reformation  was  the  result  of 
the  natural  development  of  the  nations.  The  Reformation, 
so  strongly  denying  the  existence  of  any  spiritual  insight 
and  strength  in  man,  and  yet  the  outgrowth  of  this  same 
spiritual  insight,  —  how  can  one  so  shamelessly  repudiate 
one's  parent  ? !  No.  Whatever  development  was  going  on 
was  ever  made  to  serve  the  purposes  of  the  master-mind  at 
Rome.  Emperors  opposed  him ;  he  deposed  them,  or,  what 
answered  the  same  purpose,  allied  ■  himself  with  them  and 
made  the  secular  power  his  handmaiden.  The  general  coun- 
cils met  and  deeply  deliberated;  he  had  them  assert  as 
strongly  as  possible  his  principle  of  salvation  by  works, 
meanwhile  suffering  them  to  play  awhile  with  big  words,  — 
"supreme  authority  of  the  councils,"  —  knowing  full  well 
that  poor  mankind  will  rather  submit  to  one  great  man  than 
to  many  small  men.  But  humanism  —  learning,  —  classic 
learning  at  that,  —  fine  thoughts,  and  the  ideals  of  antiquity  ? 
Why,  Leo  X  himself  was  an  ideal  humanist  —  and  an  ideal 
pope.  But,  surely,  when  reason,  cold,  pitiless  reason,  took  up 
the  fight,  and  men  began  to  think,  and  to  think  very  seriously, 
they  would  break  the  disgraceful  fetters?  Well,  the  school- 
men of  old  were  as  great  thinkers  as  any,  and  they  could 
think  of  nothing  but  human  merit;  and  the  rationalists  of 
a  later  day,  the  reasoners  par  excellence,  reasoned  out  nothing 
but  Pelagianism.  Sinful  man  can  think  only  in  terms  of 
self-righteousness,  and  all  the  progress  he  makes  consists 
in  inventing  new  terms,  which  are  equivalent  to  the  old  ones, 
and  serve  a  reactionary  purpose.  Human  forces  did  not 
bring  about  the  Reformation.    There  Satan  was  at  the  helm. 

No,  God  did  it,  —  God's  Word,  — •  this  truth :  salvation 
by  grace,  through  faith  as  taught  by  the  Scriptures. 

It  needed  a  preacher,  indeed,  and  it  made  a  preacher 
unto    itself.      Luther    did    not    form    the    principles    of    the 


108  THE    THREE   PRINCIPLES    OF    THE   REFORMATION. 

Reformation,  but  these  principles  formed  Luther.  There 
he  was,  clinging  to  the  deadly  principle  of  self -righteousness, 
cringing  before  the  authority  of  the  false  Church,  till  the 
heavenly  truth  of  salvation  by  grace,  through  faith  as  taught 
by  the  Scriptures  made  its  way  into  his  heart,  and  con- 
quered him,  and  opened  the  gates  of  Paradise  unto  him. 
Thus  he  learned  the  one  needful  truth,  and'  this  same  truth 
made  of  him  a  fit  preacher  of  it.  A  zealous  preacher;  his 
heart  burned  with  fierce  indignation  against  those  who  were 
leading  his  brothers  to  despair,  with  a  consuming  desire  to 
give  them  the  sweet  tidings  of  salvation.  A  safe  preacher; 
not  the  old  error  nor  "thirty  new  ones,"  which  lay  in  wait 
for  him,  could  gain  entrance  into  his  heart  —  "the  text  stood 
there  too  powerful."  A  fearless  and  confident  preacher; 
his  friends  need  not  bother  about  him;  let  "the  Father  be 
gracious  to  our  Lord  Jesus.  If  His  affairs  are  taken  care 
of,  my  case  is  also  won."  A  wise  preacher;  he  knew  what 
means  to  employ  to  do  his  work:  "God  accomplishes  more 
with  His  Word  than  you  and  I  and  all  the  world  could 
accomplish  with  our  forces  combined.  We  must  first  gain 
the  hearts  of  the  people,  which  is  done  by  preaching  the 
Gospel." 

And  so  the  issue  was  joined:  Luther  against  the  world. 
It  was  an  unequal  contest:  the  world  against  the  Word  of 
God.  It  was  not  the  "poor  monk"  who  needed  to  quake,  but 
the  man  at  Rome,  against  whom  the  forces  of  heaven  were 
marching.  For  a  brief  space  he  was  pleased  to  speak  dis- 
dainfully of  the  "monkish  wrangling"  going  on  in  barbarous 
Germany,  and,  indeed,  what  did  he  know  of  grace  and  faith 
and  Scriptural  authority!  Lo,  this  "monkish  wrangling," 
this  divine  wrangling,  which  insisted  on  sola  Scriptura,  sola 
gratia,  sola  fides,  set  Christendom  free,  and  pronounced  the 
eternal  judgment  on  all  who  were  bound  to  remain  under  the 
banner:    Sola  Roma.  • 

Nothing  could  restrain  the  Reformation.  ]^ow  again,  as 
in  the  apostolic  times,  "the  Word  of  God  grew  and  multi- 
plied." Luther  had  foretold  it:  "By  the  Word  the  world 
has  been  conquered,  by  the  Word  the  world  has  been  saved, 


THE   THREE    PRINCIPLES   OF   THE    REFORMATION.  109 

by  the  Word  she  will  be  restored."  "Good  men,"  says  the 
Apology,  "are  calling  for  truth  and  proper  instruction  from 
the  Word  of  God;  and  to  them  death  is  less  bitter  than  the 
bitterness  of  doubt  in  any  point  of  doctrine."  And  here  was 
Scriptural  authority.  And  again:  "Without  this  article 
the  poor  conscience  can  have  no  true,  abiding,  and  certain 
consolation."  And  here  was  what  the  wearied  souls  needed. 
At  once  faith  sprang  up  and  eagerly  appro])riated  the  blessing. 
And  God's  Word  grew  and  created  men  wlio  thought  divine 
thoughts,  thoughts  of  joy  and  thanksgiving.  Thoughts  such 
as  this  divine  thought:  "A  Christian  man  is  the  most  free 
lord  of  all  and  subject  to  none,"  —  a  godly  declaration  of 
independence:  no  man  shall  rule  the  conscience  of  God's 
child!  And  this  divine  thought:  "A  Christian  man  is  the 
most  dutiful  servant  of  all  and  subject  to  every  one,"  — 
a  declaration  for  social  service  which  consisted  not  of  noble 
words,  but  existed  in  noble  deeds.  And  the  Word  of  God 
caused  men  eagerly  to  spread  this  same  Word.  In  shops  and 
palaces  they  loved  to  speak  of  it ;  the  household  gathered  about 
the  open  Bible;  the  Gospel -preaching  filled  the  churches; 
schools  sprang  up  to  nurture  the  gentle  youth  in  the  faith  of 
their  Savior.  And  the  Word  of  God  multiplied.  At  Worms 
a  solitary  confessor,  at  Augsburg  already  a  goodly  band,  and 
soon  there  were  in  every  land  those  who  feared  God  and  gave 
Him  glory. 

And  these  principles  live  to-day.  There  are  still  those,  in 
goodly  numbers,  who  put  their  sole  trust  in  the  Gospel  of 
grace  as  taught  by  Scripture.  That  is  to  say,  this  article  has 
stood  in  spite  of  the  Roman  Emperor  with  his  Thirty  Years' 
War,  the  Spanish  king  with  his  Inquisition,  the  French  king 
with  his  dragonades,  the  pope  with  his  best  thought,  the 
Jesuits,  and  the  modern  man  with  his  most  advanced  pres- 
entation of  the  old  principle  of  human  wisdom  and  human 
merit.  The  edict  has  gone  forth  from  high  heaven:  Das 
Wort  sie  sollen  la-ssen  stahn. 


110  THE   OPEN   BIBLE. 

The  Open  Bible. 

Prof.  Alb.  H.  Miller,  Concordia  Teachers'  College,  Oak  Park,  111. 

"Search  the  Scriptures;  for  in  them  ye  think  ye  have 
eternal  life:  and  they  are  they  which  testify  of  Me."  So 
speaks  Christ,  John  5,  39. 

We  are  to  search  the  Word  of  God,  to  study-  it  diligently, 
to  observe  and  to  read  with  careful  discrimination.  God 
does  not  wish  the  Scriptures  to  be  read  irreverently,  heed- 
lessly, carelessly.  Eternal  life  is  too  serious  a  subject  for 
frivolity  or  careless,  idle  fancy.  Could  any  language  be 
more  plain  than  the  command  of  Christ?  Can  any  one  who 
makes  any  pretense  of  being  a  true  Christian,  who  accepts 
the  Bible  as  a  lamp  to  guide  his  feet,  and  who  believes  that 
the  Bible  is  the  Word  of  God,  doubt  the  efficacy  of  a  "search 
of  the  Scriptures"?  Must  he  not  be  wilfully  blind  who  will 
not  see  the  truth?  Must  he  not  be  wilfully  deaf  who  will 
not  heed  nor  listen  to  the  exhortations  of  his  Maker,  who 
says:  "This  Book  of  the  Law  shall  not  depart  out  of  thy 
mouth;  but  thou  shalt  meditate  therein  day  and  night,  that 
thou  mayest  observe  to  do  according  to  all  that  is  written 
therein"  (Joshua  1,  18)  ? 

How  great  is  our  debt  to  the  Reformation  that  it  has 
enabled  us  to  comply  with  God's  command  to  "search  the 
Scriptures" !  How  dreary  is  the  lot  of  him  who  has  no 
access  to  the  Bible,  to  whom  the  Bible  is  sealed!  And  yet 
drearier  is  the  lot  of  him  who  can  read,  and  who  might  have 
access  to  the  Holy  Book,  yet  from  whom  the  Holy  Book  is 
withheld,  and  who,  therefore,  cannot  accept  its  testimony 
of  Him  who  is  eternal  life!  And  who  are  they,  even  now, 
that  endeavor  to  close  this  Book,  which  God  has  commanded 
us  "to  search"?  Who  are  they  that  defy  the  Lord  God 
Almighty,  and  set  their  word  above  His?  Have  pope,  cardi- 
nals, and  bishops  forgotten  the  Lord's  injunction,  "For  I,  the 
Lord,  thy  God,  am  a  jealous  God,"  when  they  proclaim  that 
the  doctrine,  "Search  ye  the  Scriptures,"  is  a  blasphemous, 
destructive,  and  damned  heresy,  and  therefore  prohibit  the 
reading  of  the  Bible,  and  threaten  all  who  disobey  their 
injunctions  with  eternal  damnation  ?    Home  of  the  twentieth 


THE   OPEN    BIBLE.  Ill 

century  is  the  Rome  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  even  to 
the  present  day  teaches  that  the  Church  is  an  infallible 
expounder  of  the  doctrines  contained  in  the  Bible,  and  that 
no  one  may  understand  and  expound  it  "in  contradiction 
to  the  sense  which  the  mother  Church  has  accepted  and 
accepts,"  as  is  clearly  asserted  by  the  Council  of  Trent. 

Were  it  not  for  the  Reformation,  through  which  God 
opened  His  Book  for  him  who  will  see,  this  Book  would  have 
remained  closed  to  countless  thousands.  So  immeasurably 
great  is  the  blessing  that  it  is  above  human  understanding 
to  comprehend  it.     For  to  us  this  open  Bible  is  eternal  life. 

In  pre-Reformation  times  the  Bible  was  closed  and  sealed 
not  only  to  him  who  might  have  opened  it,  had  he  so  desired, 
but  to  nearly  all  mankind.  By  the  grace  of  God,  Luther's 
great  work  in  translating  the  Bible,  in  securing  its  distri- 
bution, and  in  expounding  it,  thus  revealing  God's  will  to 
save  all,  has  borne  thousandfold  fruit.  Why,  however,  must 
we  ascribe  the  great  work  of  the  unsealing  and  of  the  opening 
of  the  Bible  to  Luther?  Were  there  not  Bibles  before  his 
time,  and  is  not  too  much  stress  laid  on  his  work,  and  too 
much  credit  given  to  him?  True,  the  Bible  existed  before 
the  sixteenth  century,  but  it  was  accessible  to  but  compara- 
tively few.  Mathesius  (1566)  in  speaking  of  the  Bible 
previous  to  Luther's  time  says :  "During  my  youth  I  saw 
a  German  Bible  that  was  not  German;  it  had  evidently 
been  translated  from  the  Latin,  but  it  was  dark  and  gloomy, 
for  at  that  time  the  educated  men  did  not  regard  the  Bible 
highly.  IFy  father  had  a  German  postil  which  contained 
the  Gospels  for  the  various  Sundays,  and  in  which  some 
parts  of  the  Old  Testament  were  postilized  and  expounded." 
(Mathesius;  13th  sermon.)  Dr.  John  Reuchlin  ("Buch  wider 
Pfefferkorn")  is  authority  for  the  fact  that  before  Luther's 
translation  appeared,  there  were  no  less  than  seventeen  dif- 
ferent German  translations  of  the  Bible  in  existence.  Thei^e 
Bibles,  however,  were  too  strongly  marked  with  dialectic 
peculiarities,  and  too  much  tinctured  with  Romish  opinion 
and  exposition  to  be  accepted  by  any  except  those  who  were 
strongly  biased   in   favor   of   the   Romish   doctrines.     They 


112  THE   OPEX    BIBLE. 

also  lacked  scholarly  precision,  contained  gross  errors,  and 
could,  moreover,  be  obtained  only  at  a  high  price.  Before 
the  invention  of  printing,  the  Bibles  were  transcribed  by 
hand,  and  it  took  a  rapid  penman  about  ten  months  to  write 
one  copy.  Such  copies,  as  late  as  the  fourteenth  century, 
cost  about  $200  in  our  money,  and  it  was  not  uncommon 
to  pay  a  considerable  sum  to  be  allowed  to  read  it  for  one 
hour  a  day. 

It  is  very  evident  that  these  various  translations  had  not 
circulated  very  widely,  and  had  not  diffused  among  the  people 
any  familiar  acquaintance  with  the  contents  of  the  sacred 
volume.  Indeed,  before  the  Reformation,  the  Bible  existed 
not  as  a  book  for  the  laity,  but  for  the  hierarchy.  The 
hierarchy  wished  to  perpetuate  its  power,  and  conceived  the 
idea  of  withholding  the  Book  from  the  common  people,  so 
that  these  might  not  read  it,  and  thus  discover  the  fraud  and 
deceit  often  practised  upon  them.  The  difficulties  attendant 
upon  a  search  of  the  Scriptures  were  thus  greatly  augmented. 
And  while  the  common  people  were  thus  almost  entirely 
excluded  from  becoming  familiar  with  the  teachings  of  the 
Bible,  even  as  it  then  existed,  with  all  the  errors,  the  learned 
and  educated  also  found  difficulties  when  they  attempted 
to  interpret  the  original  Greek  and  Hebrew  texts.  Few  of 
Luther's  contemporaries  were  sufficiently  conversant  with 
these  languages  to  be  able  to  read  the  texts  intelligiblj^  and 
this  was  also  true  of  the  Latin  "Vulgate,"  which  was,  per- 
haps, the  most  generally  known  Bible  of  this  time.  The 
"Vulgate"  (itself  a  Latin  word  meaning  "to  make  common 
or  public")  was  not  only  difficult  to  read  and  to  understand, 
but  was  grossly  inaccurate,  containing  over  fourteen  hundred 
misleading  errors. 

Luther's  mind  was  constantly  occupied  with  a  desire  to 
remove  the  difficulty  of  access  to  the  Holy  Book.  Ever  since 
he  had  found  the  Bible  chained  to  a  wall  while  pursuing  his 
studies  at  the  University  at  Erfurt,  he  earnestly  wished  to 
make  the  truths  he  had  discovered  universally  known.  He 
felt  it  to  be  necessary  to  give  to  the  high  and  the  low  of 
the  Teutonic  race  access  to  the  authority  on  which  he  based 


THE   OPEN    BIBLE.  113 

his  doctrines.  He  wished  to  open  up  to  them  the  sources 
from  which  he  drew  his  inspiration.  PTe  wished  to  open  to 
them  the  holy  writings  so  that  they  might  judge  for  them- 
selves whether  they  could  be  justified  by  faith  alone,  or 
whether  the  Eomish  doctrine  of  indulgences,  etc.,  was  to  be 
their  hope  of  salvation. 

He  wished  further  to  give  to  his  people  a  Bible  generally 
intelligible  and  scrupulously  faithful  to  the  original  text. 
He  wished  intensely  and  earnestly  to  make  himself  compre- 
hended, and  he  felt  that  he  could  best  do  this  by  using  the 
dialect  which  was  the  familiar,  every-day  speech  of  the 
largest  part  of  the  people  of  his  native  land.  Hence,  he  felt 
that,  if  his  Bible  were  to  become  really  an  open  book  to 
the  masses,  the  phraseology  to  be  adopted  must  come  out 
of  the  living  vocabulary  which  he  heard  employed  around 
him  in  the  street,  the  market,  the  field,  and  the  workshop, 
and  a  diction  must  be  formed  out  of  the  elements  common 
to  the  speech  of  the  whole  Germanic  race.  Luther  felt  that 
only  in  this  way  could  he  write  a  translation  which  would 
be  thoroughly  idiomatic,  and  one  which  could  even  be  under- 
stood by  the  children.  How  well  he  succeeded  is  now  a  mat- 
ter of  history. 

Already  during  the  year  1517,  the  memorable  year  of  the 
Wittenberg  Theses,  Luther  had  busied  himself  in  translating 
a  part  of  the  Holy  Book.  This  translation  embraced  only 
the  seven  penitential  Psalms  (the  6th,  the  32d,  the  38th, 
the  51st,  the  102d,  the  130th,  and  the  143d).  Between  1518 
and  the  appearance  of  the  New  Testament  in  1522,  Luther 
translated  eleven  different  parts  of  the  Bible.  He  would 
probably  have  continued  in  this  desultory  manner  had  not 
something  occurred  which  completely  changed  his  mode  of 
life  and  his  ordinary  work.  This  was  his  seizure  while  on 
the  way  from  Worms  to  Wittenberg  and  his  subsequent 
removal  to  the  Wartburg.  Here  at  the  Wartburg  he  remained 
from  ]\ray  4th,  1521,  to  :Nrarch  6th,  1522.  The  time  he  spent 
here  in  calm  meditation  was  very  propitious  to  the  maturing 
of  his  plans  for  the  promotion  of  the  Reformation,  and 
Four  1 1 11  nd  rod  Years.  8 


114  THE   OPEX    BIBLE. 

among  them,  perhaps  one  of  the  most  important  of  all,  the 
opening  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  to  the  German  people. 

Whilst  at  the  Wartburg  he  visited  Wittenberg,  December, 
1521,  and  in  Wittenberg  he  was  urged  by  his  friends  to  under- 
take a  new  translation  of  the  Bible,  and  among  these  friends 
Melanchthon  was  the  most  insistent.  After  his  return  to 
the  Wartburg,  he  immediately  went  to  work.  With  few 
commentaries  and  without  even  consulting  previous  trans- 
lations of  the  Bible,  until  the  first  rough  draft  was  finished, 
Luther  worked  so  rapidly  that  in  three  months  he  had  com- 
pleted the  entire  New  Testament.  Although  the  work  was 
done  with  almost  incredible  rapidity,  the  language  was  so 
clear,  so  concise,  so  accurate  and  idiomatic,  that  even  to 
this  present  day  this  work  is  an  object  of  wonder  to  literary 
critics.  In  his  New  Testament  he  gave  the  German  language 
a  permanent  literary  form.  His  translation  was  not  merely 
a  rendering  of  the  original  text  into  another  tongue,  but  his 
interpretation  is  so  clear  that  it  not  only  touches  the  under- 
standing, but  also  the  heart.  This  was  largely  due  to  a  life- 
time's preparation  for  the  work.  Every  one  who  knows  the 
history  of  Luther's  activities  knows  how  intensively  he  studied 
the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  how  much  consolation  he  found  in 
them.  He  was  thoroughly  impregnated  with  the  teachings  of 
Christ,  and  so  imbued  with  a  zeal  to  secure  his  own  salvation 
that  he  was  ready  at  any  time  to  stand  or  fall  with  the 
doctrines  which  he  set  forth,  and  which  were  based  on 
Biblical  truths.  When  standing  before  emperor,  cardinals, 
bishops,  princes,  and  nobles  at  the  diet  of  Worms,  he  had 
written  on  the  reading  desk  before  him:  "It  is  written!" 
No  cajolery,  no  promise  of  reward,  no  threat  could  induce 
.him  to  deny  the  truths  of  the  Bible.  And  finally,  when 
giving  a  straightforward  answer  to  the  strictures  of  the 
Romish  authorities  at  Worms,  saying,  "L^nless  I  be  refuted 
by  Scriptural  testimonies  or  by  clear  argument  .  .  .,  I  am 
convinced  by  the  passages  of  Scripture,  and  my  conscience 
is  bound  in  the  Word  of  God.  ...  I  cannot  do  otherwise. 
Here  I  stand.  God  help  me!"  he  permitted  no  doubt  to 
remain  as  to  the  firmness  of  his  faith  and  his  convictions. 


THE   OPEN   BIBLE.  115 

His  was  a  giant  intellect,  and  once  having  grasped  the  truth, 
and  known  it  to  be  the  truth,  he  was  immovable. 

After  a  thorough  revision  of  the  text,  Luther  put  liis 
New  Testament  to  press,  and  hastened  the  work  of  printing 
so  greatly  that  the  first  edition  of  about  3,000  copies  appeared 
during  the  latter  part  of  September,  1522.  So  quickly  was 
this  edition  exhausted  that-  already  in  December  of  the  same 
year  a  second  edition  was  made  necessary,  and  subsequent 
editions  followed  rapidly.  Luther  had  opened  the  Book 
of  Knowledge,  and  now  all  could  read  "that  we  are  justified 
by  faith  alone."  Persons  in  all  ranks  of  life  read  with  so 
great  avidity  that  Cochlaeus,  one  of  Luther's  bitterest  oppo- 
nents, recorded  testimony  "that  even  shoemakers  and  women 
became  so  absorbed  in  its  study,  that  they  were  able  to  carry 
on  discussions  with  Doctors  of  Theology." 

But  the  interests  of  the  Catholic  hierarchy  were  foreign 
to  the  open  Bible,  and  measures  were  at  once  taken  to  sup- 
press the  book.  In  Bavaria,  Austria,  and  in  Brandenburg 
the  strictest  means  were  employed  to  exclude  it.  Duke 
George  forbade  its  sale  in  Saxony,  and  bought  up  all  copies 
which  were  discovered  in  his  territory.  Yet  Luther's  work 
could  not  be  prevented  from  circulating,  and  very  soon  copies 
were  found  in  all  parts  of  Germany.  The  work  was  of  God, 
and  could  not  perish.  Even  Luther's  enemies  recognized 
the  worth  of  his  translation,  for  when  the  Catholic  hierarchy 
commissioned  Jerome  Emser,  a  Catholic  theologian,  to  pre- 
pare an  approved  Catholic  translation  to  combat  Luther's 
work,  this  learned  gentleman  simply  copied  Luther's  New 
Testament,  making  only  such  changes  as  brought  the 
Catholic  translation  into  better  conformity  with  the  Latin 
Vulgate.  In  so  doing,  Emser  showed  his  critical  literary 
ability,  as  he  evidently  had  discovered  that  Luther  had  done 
the  work  so  well  that  it  could  not  be  improved  upon. 

But  it  was  Luther's  intense  desire  to  open  the  Old  Testa- 
ment also  to  the  German  people,  and  already  before  the 
printed  'copies  of  the  New  Testament  began  to  be  circulated, 
he  and  his  friends  had  begun  the  work  of  translating  the 
Old  Testament.     He  himself  acknowledged  that  he  was  not 


116  THE  OPEN   BIBLE. 

sufficiently  trained  in  Hebrew  to  be  competent  to  carry  out 
the  translation  alone.  He  had,  however,  the  rare  good  sense 
of  surrounding  himself  with  some  of  the  most  learned  men 
of  his  time:  Aurogallus,  Professor  of  Hebrew  at  Witten- 
berg, Melanchthon,  Bugenhagen,  Roerer,  Justus  Jonas, 
Dr.  Cruciger,  Foerster,  and  Ziegier.  These  men  persever- 
ingly  overcame  all  difficulties.  Luther  was  the  most  perse- 
vering of  all,  although  sometimes  he  was  seemingly  somewhat 
discouraged.  Once,  when  struggling  to  construe  a  compli- 
cated construction,  he  exclaimed:  "O  the  great  difficulty  of 
making  the  Hebrew  authors  speak  barbarian  German !"  So 
painstaking  were  he  and  his  colleagues  to  be  accurate,  and  to 
give  correct  and  idiomatic  equivalents  for  the  various  tech- 
nical terms,  that  no  effort  was  deemed  too  great  to  be  made. 
He  himself  once  said:  "With-  Philip  [Melanchthon]  and 
Aurogallus  I  sometimes  pondered  full  fourteen  days  upon  the 
meaning  of  a  word  or  line  before  the  proper  idiomatic 
phraseology  was  discovered."  So  that  he  might  secure  the  cor- 
rect terms  for  the  Jewish  sacrifices,  he  requested  a  butcher  to 
come  to  him  to  give  the  proper  and  correct  names  for  the 
various  parts  of  a  sheep.  Through  Spalatin's  intervention  the 
court  jewels  were  borrowed,  so  that  a  better  conception  of  the 
precious  stones  described  in  the  Book  of  Revelation  might 
be  formed.  Thus,  with  infinite  patience,  Luther  and  his 
friends  perseveringly  overcame  all  difficulties;  and  after 
the  sense  of  a  disputed  phrase  or  clause  was  fixed  in  mutual 
discussion,  Luther  was  finally  called  upon  to  render  the 
part  in  the  idiomatic  construction,  for  which  work  he  was 
peculiarly  fitted. 

The  work  progressed  rapidly,  and  already  three  months 
after  the  New  Testament  had  been  published,  the  Pentateuch 
appeared,  early  in  1523.  Two  separate  parts  followed  in 
1524  —  the  first  part  the  historical  books,  and  the  second  part 
the  Book  of  Job,  the  Psalms,  and  the  writings  (or  books) 
of  Solomon.  The  last  of  the  canonical  books  did  not  appear 
until  1532;  and  finally,  the  Apocrypha  were  translated,  in 
1534,  when  for  the  first  time  an  edition  containing  a  complete 
translation  was  published  by  Plans  Lufft. 


THE   OPEN   BIBLE.  117 

Luther,  however,  was  not  content  to  have  the  Bible  trans- 
lated and  made  accessible  to  all  who  could  and  would  read; 
he  was  deeply  concerned  as  to  the  manner  in  which  the 
common  people  could  procure  the  book,  and  use  it.  In  addi- 
tion to  furthering  the  printing  of  the  Bible,  he  also  suggested 
that  it  be  read  publicly  in  churches  and  in  schools,  and  in 
his  paper  upon  "Public  Worship"  (Richter  I,  p.  10  sqq. ; 
Erlangen  22,  p.  105  sqq.)  he  prepared  regulations  for  reading 
the  Bible  at  the  various  services.  His  recommendations  for 
the  use  of  the  Bible  were  generally  accepted,  and  in  a  short 
time  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  was  universal  in  all  parts 
of  the  country. 

Although  Luther  had  not  intended  his  translation  for 
people  other  than  his  Germans,  unintentionally  he  exerted 
a  tremendous  influence  upon  the  opening  of  the  Bible  to 
people  of  other  tongues,  and  especially  to  the  English.  After 
his  translation  of  the  New  Testament,  a  stream  of  Lutheran 
literature  began  to  flow  into  the  English  seaports,  and  among 
the  earliest  and  most  ardent  admirers  of  the  Wittenberg 
Doctor  was  William  Tyndale.  This  preacher  conceived  the 
plan  of  translating  the  New  Testament  into  English. 
Although  at  this  time  Lutheranism  was  making  considerable 
headway  in  England,  Tyndale  soon  discovered  that  he  would 
not  be  permitted  to  carry  on  his  work  of  translation  any- 
where in  his  native  country.  He,  therefore,  left  England 
in  May  of  1524,  and  went  to  Hamburg.  Where  he  spent 
the  time  until  the  spring  of  1525,  when  his  Xew  Testament 
was  ready  for  the  press,  is  a  matter  of  dispute.  However, 
the  unanimous  evidence  of  his  contemporaries  supports  the 
view  that  he  was  with  Luther  at  Wittenberg,  and  that  he 
worked  there  at  his  translation.  In  1525  he  came  to  Cologne 
to  have  his  book  printed  by  Peter  Quentel.  But  while  the 
work  of  printing  was  under  way,  the  city  council  interfered, 
and  Tjmdale  was  glad  to  escape  with  the  rescued  sheets  of 
his  incomplete  edition  to  Worms,  where  Peter  Schoeffer  not 
only  printed  a  quarto  edition,  but  also  one  in  octavo  of 
3,000  copies.     Between  1525  and  1528  no  less  than  six  edi- 


118  THE    OPEN    BIBLE. 

tions  of  Tyndale's  New  Testament,  about  18,000  copies,  were 
printed  and  shipped  to  the  various  English  ports. 

The  relation  of  Tyndale's  quarto  edition  to  Luther's  New 
Testament  is  very  close.  The  order  of  the  books,  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  text,  the  glosses  on  the  outer  margin,  the 
references  to  parallel  passages  on  the  inner  margin,  the 
prologs,  and  many  renderings  in  the  text  establish  this 
relation  beyond  a   doubt. 

"To  any  one,"  says  Demaus,  Tyndale's  biographer,  "who 
has  enjoyed  the  opportunity  of  placing  side  by  side  the  folio 
of  Luther's  German  Testament  printed  in  September,  1522, 
and  Tyndale's  quarto  printed  in  September,  1525,  the  whole 
matter  is  clear  at  a  glance.  Tjmdale's  New  Testament  is 
Luther's  in  miniature;  the  general  appearance  of  the  images 
is  the  same;  the  arrangement  of  the  text  is  the  same;  and 
the  appropriation  of  the  margins,  the  inner  one  for  parallel 
passages,  and  the  outer  for  the  glosses,  is  also  the  same. 
Of  the  whole  number  of  ninety  marginal  glosses  which  occur 
in  the  fragment  of  Tyndale's  quarto  that  has  come  down  to 
us,  fifty-two  have  been  more  or  less  literally  taken  from 
Luther."  (Demaus,  "Biography  of  William  Tyndale,"  pp.  129. 
130.)  And  in  commenting  further  upon  the  coincidence  of 
the  translations,  Demaus  says :  "Nothing  could  show  more 
strikingly  than  Tyndale's  ^Prolog  to  the  Epistle  to  the 
Komans'  the  great  ascendancy  which  the  great  Reformer  had 
now  [1526]  obtained  over  the  mind  of  Tyndale.  The 
^Introduction  to  the  Romans'  is,  in  truth,  hardly  an  original 
work,  but  is  much  more  correctly  described  as  a  translation 
or  paraphrase  of  Luther's  preface  to  the  same  epistle. 
Luther's  work,  originally  in  German,  had  been  translated 
into  Latin  by  Justus  Jonas  in  1523 ;  and  it  is  evident  that 
Tyndale  used  both  the  German  and  Latin  copies."  (Demaus, 
I.  c,  p.  145.) 

Westcott  in  his  "History  of  the  English  Bible"  says  of 
Luther's  influence  upon  Tyndale's  translation:  "The  extent 
to  which  Tyndale  silently  incorporated  free  or  even  verbal 
translations  of  passages  from  Luther's  works  in  his  own  has 


THE   OPEN   BIBLE.  119 

escaped  the  notice  of  his  editors.  To  define  it  accurately 
would  be  a  work  of  very  great  labor.  .  .  .  Tyndale's  'Prolog' 
to  his  quarto  Testament,  his  first  known  writing,  almost  at 
the  beginning  introduces  a  large  fragment  from  Luther's 
preface  to  the  New  Testament.  There  is,  indeed,  a  ring  in 
the  opening  words  which  might  have  led  any  one  familiar 
with  Luther's  style  to  suspect  their  real  source."  (Westcott, 
"History  of  the  English  Bible,"  p.  146.) 

In  support  of  his  contention  the  same  author  gives  both 
Luther's  and  Tyndale's  versions  in  parallel  columns. 

TyXDALE  :  I ATTHER  : 

"Euagelio  is  a  greke  worde,  "Evangelion  ist  eyn  grie- 
aiul  sigiiyfyth  good,  merv,  glad  cliisfli  wort  vnd  lieyst  auff 
and  ioyfull  tydiiige.tliat  maketli  dcutseli  gnte  botscliafft,  gate 
a  mannes  hert  glad,  and  maketli  luolier,  gutte  new  zeyttung,  gut 
hj-ni  synge,  daunce  and  leepe  geschrey,  davon  man  singet,  sa- 
fer ioye.  As  when  Davyd  had  get  und  frolich  ist.  Gleich  als 
kylled  Golyath  the  geaut  cam  do  Dauid  den  grossen  Goliath 
glad  tydinge  vnto  the  iewes,  vberwand,  kam  ein  gut  geschrey 
that  their  fearfull  and  cruell  vnd  trostlich  new  zeytug  vnter 
enemy  was  slayne,  and  they  das  ludisch  volck,  das  yhrer 
delj'vered  oute  of  all  daunger;  grewlicher  feynd  erschlagen, 
for  gladness  were  of,  they  sange,  vnd  se  erloset,  zn  freud  vnd 
daunced,  and  were  ioyfull."  frid  gestellet  woien,  dauon  sie 
(Westcott,  I.  c,  p.  146.)  sungen  vnd  sprungen  vnd  fro- 
lich waren." 

"The  coincidences  between  Tyndale's  Exposition  of  the 
.Sermon  on  the  Mount  and  that  of  Luther,  though  fewer,  are 
even  more  worthy  of  notice.  Luther's  Expository  Sermons 
were  delivered  in  1530,  and  printed  in  1532,  but  they  were 
not  translated  into  Latin  till  1533.  On  the  other  hand,  Tyn- 
dale's Exposition  was  printed  in  1532.  He  must  then  have 
used  the  German  Edition  of  Luther,  or,  perhaps,  even  notes 
taken  by  some  friend  or  by  himself.  The  coincidences,  which 
are  comparatively  rare,  are  still  verbal  and  at  the  same  time 
tacit.  The  following  example  will  be  sufficient  to  indicate 
their  character."    (Westcott,  ihid.,  p.  148.) 


120  the  opex  bible. 

Tyndale  :  Luther  : 

(Matt.  5,  4.)  (Matth.  5,  4.) 

Rigliteousnes  is  not  taken  for  Gereclitigkeit  mus  an  diesem 

the   principalle   rigliteousnes   of  ort    niclit    heissen,    die    Christ- 

a  christen    ma,    thorow    which  liche    heubt    gerechtigkeit,    da- 

the  parson  is  good  and  accepted  durch  die  person  frum  vnd  an- 

before    God.      For    these    VIII  genem  wird  fur  Gott.     Denn  ich 

poyntes  are  but  doctr_}Tie  of  the  babe  vor  gesagt,  das  diese  acht 

frutes    and  workes    of   a   chris-  stuck   nichts   anders   sind,   denn 

ten  ma  before  which  the  faythe  eine  lere  von  den  friichten  vnd 

must  be  there  ...  ad  as  a  tre  guten    wercken    eines    Christen, 

out    of   which   all    soche   frutes  vor   welchen    der   glaube    zuvor 

ad  workes  must  sprynge.  mus  da  sein,  als  der  ba\\Tn  vnd 

Wlierfore     vnderstande     here  heubstuck   .    .   .   daraus     solclie 

the    outwarde    rigliteousnes    be-  stuck   alle   waclisen  vnd   folgen 

fore   the   worlde   and   true   and  mussen.     Darunib   verstehe   hie 

faythfull     dealynge    eche    with  die  eusserlich  Gerechtigkeit  fur 

other.  .  .  .  der  welt,  so  wir  \iiter  vns  gegen 

ander  hallten.  .  .  . 

If  we  further  compare  Luther's  and  Tyndale's  translations, 
we  find  striking  similarities  also  in  the  texts  of  the  various 
books,  so  that  the  unbiased  observer  is  prone  to  acknowledge 
Tyndale's  debt  to  Luther. 

Tyndale's  translation  formed  the  basis  of  all  subsequent 
translations  of  the  English  Bible.  Marsh,  in  commenting 
on  the  work  of  Tyndale,  says :  "Tyndale's,  Coverdale's,  Cran- 
mer's,  the  Bishops',  the  Genevan,  and  the  Standard  Version 
coincide  so  nearly  with  each  other,  both  in  sense  and  in 
phraseology,  that  we  may  hear  whole  chapters  of  any  of  them 
read  without  noticing  that  they  deviate  from  the  text  to 
which  we  have  always  been  accustomed.  When,  then,  M-e 
study  our  Testaments,  we  are  in  most  cases  perusing  the 
identical  words  penned  by  the  martyr  Tyndale,  nearly  three 
hundred  years  ago."  (Marsh,  "Lecture  on  the  English  Lan- 
guage," p.  625.) 

And  Froude,  the  historian,  says:  "Of  Tyndale's  trans- 
lation itself,  though  since  that  time  [1525]  it  has  been  many 
times  revised  and  altered,  we  may  say  that  it  is  substantially 
the  Bible  with  which  we  are  familiar.    The  peculiar  genius  — 


THE   OPEN    BIBLE.  121 

if  such  a  word  may  be  permitted  —  which  breathes  through 
it,  the  mingled  tenderness  and  majesty,  the  Saxon  simplicity, 
the  preternatural  grandeur,  unequaled,  un approached,  in  the 
attempted  improvement  of  modern  scholars,  —  all  are  here, 
and  bear  the  impress  of  the  mind  of  one  man,  William  Tyn- 
dale."  ("History,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  84.)  Demaus,  speaking  upon 
the  same  point,  says:  "The  most  satisfactory  demonstration 
that  can  be  given  of  the  superlative  merit  of  Tyndale's  work 
is  the  fact  that  the  English  New  Testament,  as  we  now  have 
it,  is,  in  its  substance,  the  unchanged  language  of  Tyndale's 
first  version.  The  English  Bible  has  been  subjected  to  re- 
peated revisions ;  the  scholarship  of  generations,  better  pro- 
vided than  Tyndale  was  with  critical  apparatus,  has  been 
brought  to  bear  u])on  it;  writers  by  no  means  overfriendly 
to  the  original  translator  have  had  it  in  their  power  to  dis- 
parage and  to  displace  his  work:  yet,  in  spite  of  all  these 
influences,  that  Book,  to  which  all  Englishmen  turn  as  the 
source,  and  the  guide,  and  the  stay  of  their  spiritual  life  is 
substantially  the  translation  of  Tyndale."    (p.  131.) 

It  may  thus  be  seen  from  the  foregoing  that  the  blessings 
of  the  Reformation  spread  in  wide  circles,  and  much  blessing 
was  bestowed  upon  England  and  English-speaking  peoples 
through  Tyndale's  opening  of  the  Bible.  While  Luther's 
influence  was  not  so  much  directly  felt  in  England  through 
his  own  translation,  indirectly  his  influence  was  strongly 
exerted  upon  the  millions  of  readers  of  the  English  Bible 
through  Tyndale's  contact  with  the  great  Reformer.  Tyn- 
dale, himself  a  man  of  great  scholarly  attainments,  realized 
that  Luther's  was  a  master  mind,  and,  therefore,  was  more 
than  willing  to  accept  Luther's  assistance.  And  as  Tyndale's 
translation  forms  the  basis  of  all  subsequent  translations, 
we  who  realize  the  great  blessings  of  the  Reformation  which 
the  open  Bible  brought  feel  that  Tyndale's  contact  with 
Luther  gave  to  the  English  version  much  of  that  perspicuity, 
that  correctness,  and  that  orderly  arrangement  which  we 
esteem  so  highly  in  the  German  translation.  And  though 
millions  of  English  readers  may  never  be  willing  to  admit 
the  hand  and  touch  of  Luther  in  the  English  Bible,  it  is 


122  THE    OPE^'    BIBLE. 

but  jfitting  that,  in  the  enumeration  of  the  great  deeds  of 
the  great  Reformer,  and  of  the  great  blessings  coming  down 
to  us  through  the  open  Bible,  both  the  German  as  well  as 
the  English,  we  draw  the  attention  of  the  whole  world  to 
these  indisputable  historical  facts,  and  proclaim  far  and 
wide  how  much  is  due  to  this  great  man. 

And  what  did  this  open  Bible  do  for  the  people?  It 
showed  them  the  way  to  salvation;  it  disclosed  to  them 
the  false  doctrines  of  the  Romish  religion;  it  taught  them 
to  reason  and  to  weigh  the  decrees  of  pope  and  council,  — 
it  was  to  them  light  and  salvation.  What  had  been  dark  was 
illumined,  and  the  Antichrist  and  his  legions  could  not  so 
easily  deceive  the  common  man.  Lie  could  not  be  pro- 
claimed, for  the  Truth  was  at  hand. 

In  conclusion  we  cannot  refrain  from  calling  attention 
to  the  many  and  varied  expositions  which  Luther  wrote  upon 
the  books  of  the  Bible  to  make  clear  to  the  most  common  of 
his  people,  as  well  as  to  the  most  learned  men  of  his  time, 
the  exact  meaning  of  the  various  texts.  His  denotative 
powers  are  clearly  seen  in  his  expositions  of  the  Books  of 
Moses,  of  the  Psalms,  and  of  various  other  parts  of  the 
Bible.  How  diligently  does  he  strive  to  make  clear  to  his 
Germans  the  exact  meaning  of  God's  Law  as  expressed  in 
the  Ten  Commandments !  So  well  has  he  done  the  work 
that  even  the  many  great  theologians  who  followed  him  were 
glad  to  accept  his  interpretations.  He  who  possesses  a  com- 
plete set  of  Luther's  works,  possesses  a  well  of  knowledge 
which  seems  inexhaustible.  He  himself  was  a  most  exacting- 
disciple  of  God's  command  "to  search  the  Scriptures,"  and 
his  work  in  making  the  Bible  open  to  the  millions  who 
followed  him,  thus  giving  them  an  incentive  to  read,  to 
study,  to  search  for  salvation's  sake,  to  learn  that  the  Scrip- 
tures testify  of  Him  who  is  "eternal  life,"  is  one  of  the 
great  blessings  of  the  Reformation. 


LUTHER  AND  THE  PEASANT  WAR.  123 

Luther  and  the  Peasant  War. 

Rev.  W.  Schoenfeld,  New  York,  X.  Y.  ' 

The  Peasant  War  of  1525  was  a  politico-social  revolt  of 
national  importance.  As  such  it  forms  a  subject  of  deep 
interest  to  the  student  of  Germany's  history,  the  more  so 
because  it  was  both  the  most  powerful  of  many  similar  up- 
risings during-  the  two  preceding  centuries  and  the  last  truly 
national  movement  till  1813.  For  the  student  of  Luther,  pe- 
culiar interest  attaches  to  this  greatest  peasant  war  because  of 
the  charges  made  against  the  great  Iloforiner  with  reference 
thereto.  The  Eomanists  insist  that  Luther  and  the  Reforma- 
tion were  the  prime  cause  of  this  truly  terrible  upheaval. 
Likewise  the  very  men  who  through  their  fundamentally 
different  conception  of  Christian  freedom  became  the  chief 
fomentors  of  the  war,  together  with  Socialists  and  Com- 
munists of  a  later  day,  have  accused  Luther  of  deserting 
the  cause  of  the  common  people,  and  of  a  cowardly  failure 
to  stand  by  the  principles  he  himself  had  enunciated  in  their 
alleged  logical  and  necessary  application  to  the  social  and 
political  life. 

The  most  compijehensive  condemnation  of  Luther  and  the 
Reformation  bearing  on  this  point  is  made  by  Leo  XIII. 
In  his  encyclical  "Diuturnum,"  p.  25,  he  says :  "Indeed,  that 
so-called  Reformation,  whose  leaders  and  abettors  radically 
assailed  the  power  of  Church  and  State  by  new  doctrines, 
was  followed  by  sudden  tumults  and  most  audacious  rebel- 
lions, chiefly  in  Germany,  and  that  with  so  much  fire  and 
murder  of  domestic  war  that  hardlj^  a  place  free  from  turmoil 
and  bloodshed  was  to  be  found.  .  .  .  From  this  heresy,  in 
the  last  century,  a  falsely  so-called  philosophy  took  its  origin, 
and  what  is  known  as  modern  law,  and  government  by  the 
people,  that  boundless  license  which  alone  is  considered 
liberty  by  the  masses.  From  these  it  has  come  to  kindred 
pests,  to  Communism,  Socialism,  Nihilism,  abominations 
ill-boding  and  well-nigh  death-dealing  to  civil  human 
society." 

Right  here  let  it  be  noted  that  the  Romanists  persistently 


124  LUTHER  AND  THE  PEASANT  WAR. 

refuse  to  take  cognizance  of  the  fundamental  difference 
between  Luther's  teaching  on  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  the 
sphere  and  relation  of  Church  and  State,  and  that  of  the 
Puritans  and  Enthusiasts,  who  parted  company  with  him 
and  fought  him  and  his  teaching  no  less  bitterly  than  did 
the  papists.  Assuredly  the  interest  as  to  Luther's  true 
relation  to  the  Peasant  War  is  only  increased  by  the  observa- 
tion that  he  is  condemned  alike  by  the  Romanists  and  the 
Protestant  sectarians,  and  by  the  Communists  and  Socialists 
and  others  of  like  ilk,  declared  by  Leo  XIII  the  product  of 
the  Reformation. 

Many  violent  insurrections,  in  which  not  only  peasants 
w^ere  involved,  preceded  the  war  of  1525.  For  over  a  hundred 
years  there  had  been  a  demand  by  all  the  estates  for  a  reform 
of  the  Church  in  its  head  and  members.  For  more  than  four 
centuries  a  conflict  had  been  waging  between  the  popes  and 
the  rulers  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  due  to  the  ever 
increasing  usurpation  by  the  popes  of  the  rights  and  powers 
originally  held  by  the  emperors.  Again,  there  was  almost 
constant  conflict  between  the  princes  and  the  emperor,  the 
princes  endeavoring  to  secure  for  themselves  an  ever  larger 
degree  of  independent  sovereignty.  Again,  the  minor  nobles 
fought  against  the  increase  of  the  power  of  the  princes ;  the 
cities  sought  extension  of  their  power  and  wealth  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  knights  and  at  the  expense  of  the  peasants ;  and 
the  latter  resisted  as  best  they  could  the  constant  encroach- 
ments on  their  rights,  liberties,  and  possessions  by  both 
the  lords  of  the  Church  and  of  the  State.  Many  and  far- 
reaching  changes  affecting  disastrously  the  economic  and 
social  status  of  the  peasants  had  been  wrought  by  manifold 
influences. 

Though  Romanist  historians,  like  Johannes  Janssen,  in 
his  "History  of  the  German  People,"  have  sought  to  prove 
that  the  conditions  of  the  common  man  and  especially  of  the 
vast  majority  of  the  agrarian  population  had  experienced 
much  improvement  during  the  period  before  the  Reformation, 
to  which  the  Reformation  gave  a  setback,  yet  must  they 
admit  that  there  was  much  cause  for  complaint,  as  by  all 


LUTHER  AND  THE  PEASANT  WAB.  125 

the  estates  against  the  corruption,  greed,  and  tyranny  of 
Rome,  so  by  the  peasants  against  unwarrantable  oppression 
and  excessive  exactions  by  both  the  ecclesiastical  and  secular 
princes.  Everybody,  through  the  Church,  sought  an  easy 
and  luxurious  living,  and  this  at  the  expense  of  the  common 
people,  who  were  almost  wholly  debarred  from  ecclesiastical 
offices. 

There  is  no  denying  the  fact  that  the  Reformation,  as  it 
progressed,  caused  an  ever  deeper  ferment  which  entered 
into  every  phase  of  life.  The  freedom  of  the  Christian,  as 
proclaimed  by  Luther  in  oi:>position  to  Rome's  tyranny  over 
the  soul  and  conscience  of  man,  was  not  fully  or  rightly 
grasped,  and  for  that  very  reason  misapplied,  and  this  by 
some  of  the  men  who  were  most  zealous  in  preaching  the 
new  theology,  as  conceived  by  them.  Little  may  we  marvel, 
then,  that  many  of  the  laity  should  have  come  to  base  purely 
social  and  political  reformatory  claims  on  the  Gospel  of 
Christ. 

The  common  mind  is  always  inclined  to  go  to  extremes 
whenever  by  a  mighty  change  old  things  are  made  to  pass. 
Moreover,  at  such  times  ideas  formerly  absorbed,  but  which 
had  been  long  dormant,  are  apt  to  revive.  And  if  one  would 
rightly  gage  the  causes  that  produced  the  Peasant  War,  it 
is  necessary  that  he  should  acquaint  himself  with  all  the 
social  and  political  conditions  and  changes,  and  still  more 
with  the  religious  reform  movements,  which  antedated 
Luther  and  the  war. 

Many  were  the  sects  that  arose  within  the  confines  of  the 
Holy  Roman  Church  and  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  before  the 
Reformation.  Practically  all  of  these  bore  the  same  funda- 
mental character.  None  of  them  ever  got  rid  of  what  con- 
stitutes Rome's  essential  difference  from  Lutheranism,  its 
basic  conception  of  Christ's  Gospel,  that  is  to  say,  they  never 
conceived  religion  to  be  anything  else  than  an  order  of  life, 
by  which  man  is  to  work  out  his  own  salvation.  What  they 
therefore  aimed  at  w\is  merely  an  improvement  of  the  order 
of  life,  a  truer  interpretation  and  a  more  consistent  appli- 
cation of  what  they  so  significantly  called  the  evangelical 


126  LUTHER  AXD  THE  PEASANT  WAR. 

law  or  the  law  of  Christ  to  all  the  phases  of  life  in  Church 
and  State.  Necessarily  their  every  conception  of  freedom 
was  limited  to  the  external  phases  of  life,  called  merely  for 
a  new  social  order,  and  meant  nothing  more  than  freedom 
of  movement  for  the  redeemed  child  of  God  within  what  was 
understood  to  be  God's  law  and  order.  It  was  not  freedom 
from  the  Law  and  sin's  guilt  and  penalty,  the  freedom  of  the 
conscience  before  God  by  His  grace  through  Christ's  vica- 
rious obedience  and  suffering. 

Another  important  fact  which  may  not  be  overlooked  is 
that  nearly  all  these  sectarians  and  reformers,  or  heretics, 
as  Rome  called  them,  were  affected  by,  and  entangled  in. 
Mysticism  and  Apocalypticism.  The  mystic  seeks  satis- 
faction for  his  soul  by  immediate  connnunion  with  God. 
The  end  and  aim  of  all  religion  for  him  is  to  seek  perfection 
of  happiness  by  losing  his  soul  completely  in  God,  thus 
becoming,  as  it  were,  dead  to  all  influences  outside  of  God. 
To  attain  this  glorious  state  is  the  one  object  to  which  he 
holds  it  his  duty  to  direct  all  his  energies.  Carried  to  its 
logical  end,  mysticism  leads  to  a  complete  identification  of 
one's  own  spirit  with  that  of  God,  to  the  rejection  not  only 
of  all  ecclesiastical  authority  and  mediation,  but  of  all 
mediation  of  God's  grace  by  the  Holy  Ghost  through  any 
external  means  whatsoever.  Though  the  Holy  Scriptures 
are  at  first  employed  to  furnish  the  proof  for  the  actuality 
of  personal  communication  with  God,  these  are  soon  brushed 
aside  as  no  longer  needed,  because  of  the  alleged  direct  com- 
munication with  the  Spirit  of  God. 

No  man  appears  to  have  exerted  a  mightier  influence 
upon  the  sectarians  of  the  Middle  Ages  than  Joachim  of 
Floris,  and  this  by  reason  of  his  apocalyptical  speculations. 
Significant,  too,  is  the  fact  that  this  curious  Calabrian  prior, 
who  died  in  the  year  1201,  published  his  writings  at  the 
urgent  request  of  several  popes.  Notwithstanding  this  fact, 
his  writings  were  employed  as  one  of  their  chief  weapons 
by  the  antagonists  of  papacy.  A  historical  philosopher,  he 
divided  the  history  of  the  world  into  three  periods.  The 
first  he  defined  as  the  period  of  servitude  under  the  Law, 


LUTHER    A^'D    THE    PEASANT    WAR.  127 

the  second  as  that  of  childhood  under  the  tutelage  of  the 
priesthood,  the  third  was  to  be  that  of  perfect  liberty.  In 
this  period  the  perfect  revelation  was  to  come,  and  perfect 
life  to  be  attained,  and  that  was  to  be  the  life  of  the  monks, 
no  private  possessions,  no  difference  of  caste  or  estate,  no 
cares  of  labor.  To  reach  these  conclusions  and  secure  for 
them  divine  basis  and  authority  he  used  the  Bible,  inter- 
preting it  allegorically.  This  method  enabled  him  to  put 
his  own  preconceived  notions  into  the  Bible,  and  at  the  same 
tin^e  paved  the  way  for  the  abandonment  of  the  Bible  for 
a  more  advanced  and  direct  revelation,  such  as  was  to 
come  in  his  third  period.  The  beginning  of  this  period  he 
saw  in  the  origin  of  monasticism,  the  zenith  he  placed  in 
the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century.  Following  the  exami)le 
of  Joachim,  others,  by  allegorical  interpretation  of  the  Bible, 
endeavored  to  make  its  statements  and  prophecies  fit  present- 
day  conditions  and  show  the  way  for  the  fulfilment  of  their 
heart's  desires.  Nor  did  they  stop  here,  but  adopting  the 
idea  of  Joachim's  third  period,  they  proceeded  to  claim  for 
themselves  the  prophetic  gift,  direct  inspiration  and  reve- 
lation, and  this  in  the  interest  of  the  very  freedom  foretold 
by  Joachim  to  come  in  his  third  period.  These  vagaries  not 
only  gave  birth  to  many  sects,  but  continued  to  live  and 
vegetate  among  the  people,  even  after  the  sects,  as  organized 
bodies,  were  suppressed  and  disappeared.  Throughout  the 
Middle  Ages  we  see  them  reappear  here,  there,  and  every- 
where. 

With  these  facts  before  our  eyes,  we  may  readily  under- 
stand such  phenomena  as  the  preaching  and  doings  of  the 
Zwickau  prophets  and  men  of  the  type  of  Thomas  Muenzer, 
who  beyond  a  doubt  was  the  prime  fomentor  of  the  Peasant 
War.  Significant,  too,  is  the  fact  that  Muenzer's  home  and 
the  province  of  his  earliest  activities  is  known  to  have  been 
a  nest  of  the  thoughts  and  theories  of  one  such  sect,  the 
Flagellants. 

TvCt  us  now  briefly  review  the  Peasant  War.  The  first 
disturbances  occurred  in  the  Ilapsburg  countries  along  the 
upper  Rhine  in  connection  with  an  attempt  by  Duke  Ulrich 


128  LUTHER  AND  THE  PEASANT  WAR. 

of  Wuerttemberg,  who  had  been  exiled  since  1519,  to  recover 
his  land.  Anabaptists,  in  part  emissaries  of  Thomas  Muenzer, 
appear  to  have  been  the  prime  agents  in  creating  the  com- 
motion. In  the  latter  half  of  1524  Muenzer  himself  loomed 
up  in  those  regions,  in  Klettgau  and  Hegau,  Switzerland  and 
Alsace.  Besides  him  a  large  number  of  itinerant  preachers 
created  ever  more  unrest.  In  the  first  quarter  of  the  year 
1525  the  famous  "Twelve  Articles  of  the  Peasants"  were 
composed  in  Upper  Swabia.  Their  circulation  through  all 
Germany  began  with  the  beginning  of  March.  For  the 
justification  of  the  demands  made  Scripture  passages  were 
adduced.     Briefly  stated,  these  were  the  demands  made :  — 

1.  Freedom  to  elect  their  own  pastors,  who  are  to  preach 
the  Gospel  without  any  human  additions. 

2.  The  preachers  to  receive  for  their  sustenance  no  more 
than  the  tithes;  the  residue  of  the  church-income  to  be 
set  aside  that  no  taxes  need  in  case  of  war  be  imposed 
on  the  poor. 

3.  The  lords  as  true  and  genuine  Christians  to  release  the 
peasants  from  serfdom,  who  for  their  part  promise  to  live 
according  to  the  Word  of  God  and  to  give  obedience  to  the 
government  in  all  proper  and  Christian  matters. 

4.  The  poor  man  to  have  the  right  to  take  for  himself 
the  fish  of  the  lake,  the  beasts  and  birds  of  the  forest. 

5.  All  wooded  lands  of  which  the  secular  or  clerical  lords 
had  taken  possession  without  payment  therefor  to  revert  to 
the  communities.  With  respect  to  properties  paid  for, 
a  peaceable  settlement  is  to  be  made  by  mutual  agreement. 

6 — 8.  The  peasants  to  be  relieved  from  burdensome  ex- 
actions,  services,  taxes,   and  fines. 

9.  Judgments  and  penalties  to  be  just,  free  from  jealousy 
and  partiality. 

10.  Meadows  and  lands  of  right  belonging  to  the  com- 
munities to  be  returned  to  them. 

11.  The  widows  and  orphans  no  longer  to  be  subjected  to 
the  death-tax. 

12.  If  any  of  these  articles  should  be  proved  contrary  to 


LUTHER  AND  THE  PEASANT  WAR.  129 

the  Word  of  God,  these  are  to  lie  canceled,  but  the  right 
is  reserved  to  set  up  others  having  the  warrant  of  Holy  Writ. 
Compared  with  similar  articles  of  earlier  days,  these 
reveal  a  truly  remarkable  moderation,  no  doubt  due  to  the 
beneficent  influence  of  the  Reformation.  True  to  their  pro- 
fession, the  peasants  at  first  showed  themselves  willing  to 
confer  with  the  lords  to  bring' about  an  amicable  settlement 
of  their  differences.  And.  even  after  the  fierce  tumult  had 
gotten  under  way  and  spread  in  many  directions,  a  con- 
ference was  held  at  Heilbronn,  beginning  with  the  9th  of 
May,  in  which  representatives  of  various  cities  and  men 
of  considerable  prominence  met  with  a  committee  of  peasants 
to  draw  up  a  program  of  imperial  reform,  and  a  most  re- 
markable document  it  was  which  they  compiled.  It  con- 
tained the  following  fourteen  articles :  — 

1.  All  clerics,  high  and  low,  shall  be  reformed  and  receive 
proper  sustenance,  their  properties  to  be  diverted  to  the 
common  welfare. 

2.  All  secular  lords  shall  be  reformed,  in  order  that  the 
poor  may  not  be  oppressed  by  them  beyond  Christian  free- 
dom; equal  and  quick  administration  of  justice  for  the 
highest  and  the  lowest.  Princes  and  nobles  shall  protect 
the  poor,  and  in  consideration  of  an  honest  income  conduct 
themselves  in  brotherly  fashion. 

3.  All  cities  and  communities  shall  be  reformed  in  com- 
pliance M'ith  Christian  freedom  according  to  divine  and 
natural  law;  no  ancient  or  modern  human  invention  to  be 
permitted.     All  ground-rents  to  be  redeemable. 

4.  Xo  doctor  of  Roman  law  may  be  admitted  to  any  court 
or  a  prince's  council;  only  three  doctors  of  imperial  law 
to  be  permitted  at  each  university,  whose  counsel  may  be 
sought  when  required. 

5.  No  cleric,  high  or  low,  may  be  a  member  of  the  imperial 
council,  or  employed  as  the  counsel  of  other  princes  and 
communes;    none  shall  hold  secular  office. 

6.  All  civil  law  heretofore  in  force  within  the  empire  to 
be  abrogated;  only  divine  and  natural  law  to  prevail,  so 
that  the  poor  man  may  have  like  access  to  justice  with  the 

Four  Hundrod  Years.  9 


130  LUTHER  AXD  THE  PEASANT  WAE. 

highest  and  richest.  (Specific  provisions  were  added  as  to 
the  number,  character,  and  composition  of  the  courts,  allow- 
ing representation  to  all  the  estates  and  the  right  of  appeal 
from   one  court  to   another.) 

7.  All  tolls  to  cease,  except  those  for  bridges  and  roads. 

8.  All  streets  to  be  free,  all  excise  abolished. 

9.  Xo  taxes  outside  of  the  imperial  tax  to  be  raised  once 
every  ten  years.    (Matt.  22.) 

10.  Only  one  kind  of  coin  for  the  whole  German  nation. 

11.  Universal  uniformity  of  measures  and  weights. 

12.  Curtailment  of  usury  as  practised  by  the  large  bank- 
ing concerns,  who  possess  themselves  of  all  the  money,  and 
fleece,  as  they  will,  the  rich  and  poor. 

13.  The  freedom  of  the  nobles  from  every  ecclesiastical 
feudality. 

11.  The  abolition  of  all  alliances  of  princes,  lords,  and 
cities;  protection  and  defense  by  the  emperor  only  to  prevail 
throughout  the  whole  realm. 

This  can  hardly  be  called  other  than  a  sane  program, 
but  nearly  four  hundred  years  were  to  roll  by  before  its 
main  features  were  adopted.  Unhappily  radical  forces  gained 
the  ascendancy  with  the  peasants,  and  so  it  was  that  the 
revolt  was  not  stopped,  but  like  a  mighty  flood  rolled  onward, 
eastward  into  the  Austrian  Alps,  westward  into  Alsace, 
thence  down  the  Rhine  into  the  Palatinate,  northward  into 
Wuerttemberg,  Uranconia  and  Thuringia.  The  lords  of 
Southwest  Germany  formed  the  Swabian  League,  which 
for  a  time,  but  a  short  time  only,  prevented  the  outbreak  of 
hostilities.  By  the  end  of  March  the  flames  of  revolution 
broke  forth  everywhere.  Castles  and  cloisters  were  despoiled 
and  incinerated.  Against  the  cities,  too,  the  peasants 
marched,  but  largely  for  the  purpose  of  winning  them  over 
to  their  side  and  making  them  points  of  support,  bases  of 
operation.  Nor  were  the  efforts  of  the  peasants  in  this  di- 
rection futile.  At  one  time  nearly  all  the  cities  of  Franconia 
made  common  cause  with  them.  Early  in  April  the  forces 
of  the  Swabian  League,  commanded  by  Georg  Truchsess, 
of  Waldenburg,  met  the  peasants   at  Leipheim  and  scored 


LUTHER  AXD  THE  PEASANT  WAR,  131 

their  first  victory.  Five  hundred  peasants  were  brutally 
executed.  This  only  served  to  increase  the  wrath  of  the 
peasants,  and  when,  on  the  IGth  of  April,  twelve  days  later, 
they  successfully  stormed  Weinsberg,  they  retaliated  by 
mercilessly  murdering  the  Count  of  Ilelfenstein  and  his 
associates,  despite  the  plea  made  by  the  count's  wife,  with 
a  babe  on  her  arms,  to  spare  his  life.  The  infuriated  mobs 
became  guilty  of  ever  more  vicious  excesses  and  revolting- 
brutalities.  However,  the  victories  gained  by  the  peasants 
were  short-lived.  April  17th  the  revolt  was  brought  to 
a  close  in  upper  Swabia  by  the  Weingartner  Treaty.  Truch- 
sess  with  his  forces  then  moved  into  Wuerttemberg  and 
defeated  the  peasants  at  Boeblingen  on  May  12th.  Then  he 
marched  his  army  into  Franconia,  where  on  May  28th  his 
troops  were  joined  by  those  of  the  Elector  of  the  Palatinate 
and  of  Trier.  On  the  2nd  of  June  a  victory  over  the  rebels 
was  scored  at  Koenigshofen  on  the  Tauber,  and  on  June  4th 
at  Wuerzburg.  June  8th  Wuerzburg  surrendered,  June  28th 
Rothenburg.  IFuenzer  and  his  comrades  had  already  met 
their  fate  at  Frankenhausen  on  May  15th.  Only  in  the 
Alpine  countries  did  the  insurrection  last  into  the  summer 
of  1526.  Brutal  was  the  punishment  inflicted  on  the  defeated 
peasants.  The  estimates  as  to  the  number  of  peasants  killed 
in  this  war  vary  between  50,000  and  100,000.  On  the  whole, 
the  status  of  the  peasants  remained  much  the  same  as  before 
the  war.  Where  the  war  had  waged  hottest,  some  betterment 
was  granted.  Only  in  the  ITapsburg  countries  were  greater 
hardships  imposed. 

Muenzer  it  wag,  who,  coming  into  the  camp  of  the  peasants 
at  Muehlhausen,  caused  the  breaking  off  of  negotiations  with 
the  princes,  whose  forces  were  posted  at  Frankenhausen,  and 
who  had  sought  to  reach  by  negotiation  a  peaceable  adjust- 
ment. He  promised  the  peasants  victory  and  declared  himself 
armed  with  the  sword  of  Gideon.  In  a  paroxysm  of  wildest 
frenzy  he  assured  the  poor  deluded  peasants  miraculous  aid, 
and  bade  them  look  to  the  heavens,  wliere  he  pretended  to 
discover  either  in  a  rainbow  or  a  halo  around  the  sun  a  God- 
given  pledge  of  victory.     But  the  help  from  above  did  not 


132  LUTHER    AXD    THE   PEASANT   AVAR. 

appear.  The  artillery  of  the  princes  wrought  quick  and 
irresistible  destruction,  and  turned  the  battle  into  a  mas- 
sacre. More  than  half  of  the  rebels  were  slain.  Muenzer 
made  his  escape,  crept  into  a  house  and  into  bed.  Foxlike 
he  feigned  sickness,  but  this  did  not  prevent  his  being  con- 
demned to  death.  And  now  that  his  wild  dreams  were 
exploded,  he  renounced  his  new  religion,  took  the  Sacrament 
in  one  kind,  and  died  a  Roman  Catholic ! 

We  have  now  reached  the  point  where  we  shall  examine 
into  Luther's  relation  to  this  deplorable  debacle,  the  Peasant 
War.  Is  it  true  that  he  through  his  teaching  brought  on  this 
terrible  war?  or  that,  when  put  to  the  test  through  the 
outbreak  of  this  war,  he  showed  the  white  feather,  went  back 
on  his  own  teaching,  the  principles  evolved  from  the  Gospel 
of  Christ,  deserted  the  cause  of  the  common  people  and 
became  the  obsequious  servitor  of  the  princes? 

True  it  is  that  Muenzer  and  the  other  fanatics  who  stirred 
up  this  rebellion  made  common  cause  trith  Luther  in  his 
fight  against  Rome,  and  proclaimed  themselves  preachers  of 
Christ's  Gospel  and  prophets  of  the  Lord  God  Most  High. 
True  it  also  is  that  they  accused  Luther  and  his  loyal  asso- 
ciates of  cowardice,  of  being  afraid  to  put  their  words  into 
action,  of  being  intent  upon  an  easy  life,  and  unwilling  to 
follow  what  they  proclaimed  the  law  of  Christ.  Again  it  is 
true  that  the  peasants  proclaimed  Luther,  Melanchthon,  and 
others  their  patrons,  and  no  doubt  honestly  and  sincerely 
believed  their  demands  based  upon  the  Gospel  of  Christ  and 
that  Christian  freedom  which  Luther  had  brought  to  light, 
and  finally  declared  themselves  willing  to  have  Luther  sit 
in  judgment  on  their  articles.  But  what  proof  is  there  in 
all  this  to  fix  on  Luther  any  guilt  with  respect  to  the  peasant 
revolt  ? 

•Never  a  man  has  yet  dared  to  say  that  Luther  ever  called 
upon  the  peasants  to  right  the  wrongs  suffered  by  them  by 
an  appeal  to  arms.  Nor  has  the  man  yet  appeared  who  has 
undertaken  to  prove  that  Luther  taught  the  freedom  wrought 
by  Christ  for  all  mankind  to  be  anything  but  a  spiritual 
freedom,  a  freedom  of  the  soul  and  conscience,  neither  to  be 


LUTHEB  AND  THE  PEASANT  WAB.  133 

gained  nor  to  be  retained  except  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  operating 
through  the  divinely  appointed  means  of  grace,  preeminently 
the  Gospel  of  Christ.  But  such  was  not  the  conception  of 
Christ's  Gospel  held  and  in-omulgatcd  by  Muenzer  and  his 
confreres,  the  men  who  incited  the  rising  of  the  peasants. 
Impossible  it  is  for  any  one  to  judge  rightly  Luther's  relation 
to  these  men  and  the  Peasant  War,  unless  he  have  come  to 
thoroughly  understand  tlie  doctrine  of  the  Christian  freedom 
or  of  the  justification  of  the  sinner  by  faith  alone,  as  held 
and  promulgated  by  Luther. 

Long  before  the  Peasant  War  did  Luther  clearly  perceive 
a  radical  difference  to  exist  between  his  own  basic  conception 
of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  and  that  of  these  men.  They  were 
the  cause  of  his  leaving  the  Wartburg,  and  returning  to 
Wittenberg  despite  the  most  earnest  petition  and  protestation 
of  the  Elector  Frederick.  The  reformation  they  craved  was 
not  primarily  and  fundamentally  a  reformation  of  the  sin- 
ner's soul,  a  restoration  of  man  to  divine  kinship,  but  the 
establishment  merely  of  a  new  order  of  life.  They  had  not 
passed  through  any  such  experience  as  Luther  had,  and 
the  freedom  wherewith  Christ  has  made  us  free  meant 
for  them  not  the  deliverance  from  the  Law,  and  the  guilt 
and  penalty  of  sin,  but  deliverance  merely  from  external 
conditions  preventing  the  unhampered  movement  of  man 
in  accordance  with  the  law  of  Christ.  The  Gospel  of  Christ 
was  to  them  really  nothing  but  a  new  law,  calling  for 
the  social  and  political  equality  of  all  men.  To  put  the 
Gospel  of  Christ  into  practise,  therefore,  meant,  to  their 
mind,  nothing  more  than  the  removal  of  whatever  was  con- 
tradictory or  a  hindrance  to  such  equality.  And  this  they 
deemed  it  right  to  effect,  if  necessary,  by  force. 

Furthermore,  these  men,  like  the  mystics  and  apocalyptics 
of  an  earlier  day,  interpreted  the  Bible  allegorically,  and  thus 
injected  into  it  their  own  preconceived  material  notions. 
Like  their  spiritual  ancestors,  they  also  proceeded  to  lift 
themselves  up  above  the  Scriptures,  and,  brushing  the  Bible 
aside,  proclaimed  themselves  prophets  enjoying  direct  inspi- 
ration and  new  revelations  from  God.     Thus  it  came  about 


134  LUTHER  AXD  THE  PEASANT  WAK. 

that  Carlstadt,  infected  and  carried  away  by  this  enthusiasm 
of  the  Zwickau  prophets,  not  only  connived  at  the  refor- 
mation by  force  which  they  attempted  at  Wittenberg,  but 
advocated  the  closing  of  all  theological  schools,  and  himself 
went  to  the  bakers,  weavers,  and  shoemakers,  inquiring  of 
them  what  the  Holy  Ghost  had  taught  and  revealed  unto 
them.  Why,  said  he,  should  the  Holy  Ghost  not  do  now 
what  He  had  done  of  old  ?  Why  should  He  not  to-day  reveal 
divine  truth  and  give  right  and  deeper  spiritual  under- 
standing to  the  weaver  and  the  peasant  than  to  the  learned 
man  and  theological  professor,  just  as  He  had  by  direct 
inspiration  given  such  knowledge  to  Christ's  apostles? 

Over  against  these  men  Luther  from  the  very  beginning 
distinguished  sharply  between  the  spiritual  freedom  wrought 
for  all  the  world  by  Christ  and  every  form  of  social  and 
political  liberty  and  reform,  and  contended  with  all  his 
energy  against  any  confusion  of  the  two.  Thus,  too,  he  took 
an  uncompromising  stand  against  the  employment  of  any 
force  for  the  advancement  of  Christian  freedom  or  any 
Church  reform,  maintaining  that  is  was  only  through  the 
Holy  Ghost  that  man  could  be  converted  to  faith  in  Christ, 
and  thus  made  to  possess  the  freedom  of  Christ,  and  only 
as  divine  conviction  was  effected  in  man  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
through  the  Word  of  God  could  any  genuine  reform  be 
effected  in  the  Church.  Let  the  Holy  Spirit  enlighten  the 
masses,  and  all  abuses,  institutions  and  practises  in  conflict 
with  the  Gospel  of  Christ  would  be  done  away  with  by 
unanimous  consent,  in  fact,  drop  off  as  dead  leaves  drop 
from  a  living  tree.  Again,  he  stoutly  insisted  that  to  the 
Word  of  God  all  are  bound,  the  Word  alone,  and  that  in 
its  natural  sense. 

Though  in  his  "Address  to  the  Christian  iSTobility"  Luther 
assailed  all  Roman  oppression  and  abuse,  he  did  it  as  a  theo- 
logian. As  such  he  had  a  right  to  do  it,  and  this  because  the 
abuses  attacked  by  him  were,  without  exception,  due  to  a  cor- 
ruption of  the  conceptions  of  grace.  Church,  priesthood,  and 
Church-polity.  In  all  these  he  beheld  a  grave  violation  of 
the  clear  command  of  God,  which  gives  to  civil  government 


LUTIIEK    AXD    THE   PEASANT    WAR.  135 

only  the  power  of  the  sword.  It  was  tliis  Rome  denied, 
demanding  for  all  the  clergy  exemption  from  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  State,  and  usurping  its  power.  How  scrupulously 
Luther  guarded  against  all  confusion  of  spiritual  freedom 
witli  any  external  social  and  political  freedom  appears  most 
clearly  from  his  essay  on  "Secular  Government"  and  the 
obedience  we  owe  it.  (1523.)  In  this  essay  he  demands  that 
the  Christian  suffer  patiently  anj^  abuse  the  government  may 
make  of  its  power,  though  neither  approving  thereof  nor 
becoming  a  party  thereto.  And  already  in  the  admonition 
sent  to  Wittenberg  from  the  Wartburg  in  1521  he  says : 
"I  hold,  and  ever  will  hold,  to  the  party  which  suifers 
violence,  no  matter  how  wrong  it  may  be,  and  will  oppose 
the  party  that  causes  tumult,  however  righteous  its  cause, 
and  this  because  no  tumult  will  pass  off  without  the  shedding 
of  innocent  blood  and  other  harm."  The  reason  for  taking 
this  position  he  defines  to  be  that  in  this  case  the  devil, 
by  stirring  up  "temporal  tumult,"  would  seek  to  prevent  the 
"spiritual  tumult,"  and  thus  harm  the  evangelical  cause. 
"But,"  he  continues,  "God  willing,  he  shall  not  succeed. 
They  that  read  and  understand  my  teaching  aright  do  not 
create  tumult;    they  have  not  learned  it  from  me." 

Clearly  as  he  perceived  the  fundamental  difference 
between  his  own  conception  of  Christ's  Gospel  and  that  of 
]\ruenzer  and  others  of  like  type,  so  Luther  also,  from  the 
very  outset,  clearly  perceived  that  Muenzer's  activities  must 
lead  to  a  revolution,  and  thereby  cause  the  greatest  possible 
harm  to  the  cause  of  the  pure  Gospel,  which  he  knew  himself 
called  by  God  to  preach  anew  to  mankind.  That  it  was  which 
he  called  "the  Altstedt  spirit."  Muenzer,  indeed,  first  called 
upon  the  princes  to  use  their  sword  to  prevent  insurrection, 
and  he  certainly  would  have  been  well  satisfied  had  he  suc- 
ceeded in  forcibly  establishing  the  law  of  Christ  through  the 
sword  of  the  princes.  But  failing  in  this,  he  unhesitatingly 
appealed-to  the  sword  of  the  peasants. 

Neither  Luther  nor  his  teaching  may  with  any  justice 
be  charged  with  having  provoked  the  revolt  of  the  peasants. 
It  was  no  fault  of  his  that  the  peasants   in  their  articles 


136  LUTHER    A^'D    THE   PEASANT   WAR. 

mixed  religious  and  social  matters,  proclaimed  him  their 
patron  and  made  appeal  to  his  teachings,  falsely  understood 
by  them,  and  this  largely,  if  not  entirely,  because  of  the 
teachings  of  men  who,  while  they  fought  as  he  did  against 
Rome,  yet  differed  fundamentally  with  him  in  the  con- 
ception of  the  gospel  of  Christian  freedom,  and  on  that 
score  fought  him  with  no  less  bitterness  than  did  the 
Romanists. 

The  "Twelve  Articles  of  the  Peasants''  Luther  did  not, 
on  the  whole,  condemn  as  too  radical.  All  questions  arising 
from  articles  4 — 11,  he  urged,  should  be  left  to  the  jurists. 
These  he  considered  debatable,  and  did  not  reprove  the 
peasants  for  them.  He  protested  against  dragging  the  Chris- 
tian name  into  these  matters,  and  declared  that,  with  respect 
to  these,  the  peasants  should  simply  have  appealed  to  divine 
and  natural  law.  In  the  first  three  articles  he  found  cause 
for  severe  rebuke.  Though  the  peasants  are  right  in  de- 
manding freedom  to  elect  their  own  pastors,  he  denies  to 
them  the  right  of  demanding  the  disposition  of  the  benefice-, 
since  these  belong  to  the  government.  Thus,  too,  he  declares 
the  demand  of  the  peasants  with  respect  to  the  tithes  to  be 
sheer  theft  and  robbery.  His  strongest  protest  is,  however, 
entered  against  the  endeavor  to  compel  the  government.  By 
force,  to  accede  to  their  demands.  Taking  his  stand  upon  the 
teaching  of  the  Bible  on  civil  government,  he  saw  the 
greatest  crime  in  rising  up  against  the  government,  and 
fought  against  having  the  conception  of  the  divine  estab- 
lishment and  duty  of  civil  government  obscured  by  any  con- 
flicting religious  or  moral  considerations.  Herein  he  took 
a  position  fundamentally  different  both  from  that  of  Rome 
and  that  traditionally  received  from  Wyclif  by  the  sec- 
tarians, according  to  which  government  had  only  a  lease 
on  the  power  entrusted  to  it,  which  terminated  in  and  with 
the  abuse  of  that  power.  It  was  for  this  reason  Luther  held 
that  also  social  and  political  reforms  must  not  be  attempted 
by  violence  and  rebellion,  but  by  fearlessly  holding  up  to  the 
divinely  constituted  powers  their  duty  according  to  divine 
and  natural  law.     The  Christian  especially  must  prove  his 


LUTHEE  AND  THE  PEASANT  WAR.  137 

Christianity  by  being  subject  to  the  powers  that.be,  suffering 
patiently  any  wrong,  rather  than  by  violent  resistance  doing 
wrong,  confident  that  the  Lord,  the  Ruler  over  all,  will  hear 
his  prayers,  right  all  wrong  in  due  season,  and  make  all 
things  serve  for  the  good  of  His  faithful  children. 

But  the  sorest  point  for  Luther  was  that  the  peasants 
urged  in  behalf  of  their  socio-political  demands  and  their 
forcible  enactment  a  conception  of  the  Gospel  wholly  antago- 
nistic to  its  true  contents  and  import.  This,  he  rightly 
perceived,  involved  nothing  less  than  the  subversion  of  the 
very  essence  of  Christianity,  and  for  that  reason  the  de- 
struction of  that  entire  reformation  for  which  he,  by  God's 
grace,  had  been  permitted  to  labor.  In  their  third  article 
the  peasants,  had  based  their  demand  for  release  from  serf- 
dom on  the  freedom  Christ  had  secured  for  all  alike,  the 
lowest  and  the  highest,  by  the  redemption  through  His  blood. 
To  this  plea  Luther  replied  that  Christian  freedorn  has 
nothing  to  do  with  a  man's  social  or  political  position  in 
this  world.  Being  a  serf  or  slave  as  little  prevents  one 
from  enjoying  the  spiritual  freedom  through  faith  in  Christ 
as  if  one  were  an  invalid  or  a  prisoner.  The  peasants  by 
this  article  would  turn  Christ's  spiritual  kingdom  into 
a  worldly,  external  kingdom,  a  thing  which  can  never  be 
endured.  Worldly  kingdoms  cannot  exist  without  disparity 
in  persons,  some  being  free,  some  bound,  some  lords,  some 
subjects.  But  all  alike  have  access  to  God's  grace  and  Spirit 
and  to  the  Christian  freedom.  Luther  did  not  disapprove 
of  the  peasants  endeavoring  to  protect  themselves  against 
any  injustice  and  wrong  contrary  to  nature.  But  if  to  Chris- 
tian law  they  appeal,  they  must  be  told  that  this  enjoins 
patient  endurance  of  injustice.  Xo  desire  has  he  to  uphold 
the  government  in  any  palpable  and  unbearable  injustice, 
but  he  does  insist  that  both  parties  to  this  quarrel  have 
nothing  to  do  with  Christianity.  Should  violent  insurrection 
be  inaugurated,  then,  in  his  conviction,  the  government 
must,  in  the  performance  of  its  Christian  duty,  use  all  the 
l)ower  at  its  command  to  suppress  such  insurrection.  True 
to  this  conviction,  he  unhesitatingly  called  upon  the  govern- 


138  LUTHER'S    MAERIAGE. 

ment  to  perform  its  duty,  when  the  peasants,  despite  their 
professed  willingness  to  submit  to  his  judgment,  failed  to 
give  ear  to  his  admonition  and  protest.  Moreover,  over 
against  every  charge  of  cowardice  it  must  be  recorded  that, 
at  the  risk  of  being  himself  murdered,  he  went  into  various 
disturbed  localities,  seeking  to  quiet  the  rebellious  spirits. 
Also  it  must  be  recorded  that  where  the  preachers  held  to 
Luther's  teaching  of  the  Gospel  quiet  was  maintained  or 
quickly  restored.  Finally  it  must  be  said  to  Luther's  ever- 
lasting honor  that  he  never  disowned  responsibility  in  calling 
on  the  government  to  wield  its  sword  for  the  suppression  of 
the  rebels.  Frankly  did  he  acknowledge  that  it  was  he  who, 
through  his  exhortation  to  the  princes,  brought  about  the 
extinction  of  Muenzer  and  the  rebellion  incited  by  him. 

Right  in  his  conception  of  the  very  essence  of  Chris- 
tianity, Luther  was  right  in  his  stand  over  against  Muenzer 
and  all  his  confreres.  With  the  deluded  peasants  we  must 
deeply  sympathize,  especially  because  their  lot  might  have 
been  much  improved,  and  that  within  a  short  time,  if  they 
had  followed  Luther  instead  of  the  self-made  "heavenly 
prophets."  But  as  for  the  preachers  of  mere  social  and 
political  reform,  to  whom  Christ's  Gospel  was  only  a  new 
law,  and  a  law  to  be  enforced  by  force,  we  must  say :  Thanks 
be  to  God  that  their  movement  received,  in  and  with  the 
crushing  of  the  Peasant  War,  its  death-blow,  and  that  Luther, 
over  against  them,  proved  himself  a  veritable  Gibraltar  of 
the  true   Christian   faith  and  the  true   Christian  freedom! 


Luther's  Marriage. 

Rev.  W.  M.  Czamanske,  Sheboygan,  Wis. 

If  Luther  meant  to  be  a  true  reformer  of  a  corrupt 
Church,  which  invariably-  pictured  marriage  as  an  unholy, 
and  even  as  an  unclean  state,  it  was  almost  necessary  for  him, 
who  proclaimed  the  sanctity  of  matrimony  according  to  the 
Scriptures,  to  back  up  his  words  by  his  own  example. 

While  he  was  in  the  Wartburg,  Luther  wrote  a  tract  in 


LUTHER'S    MARRIAGE.  139 

which  he  proved  from  the  Bible  that  the  Church  of  Rome 
is  wrong,  when  she  says,  "It  is  unlawful  for  the  clergy  to 
marry."  "Marriage  is  God's  appointment,"  he  said,  "and 
therefore  no  man  has  a  right  to  forbid  it  to  any  one."  In 
consequence  of  this  tract,  there  began  an  exodus  from  the 
convents,  and  many  nuns,  monks,  and  priests  entered  the 
state  of  matrimony. 

Not  far  from  Leipzig,  on  the  road  to  Dresden,  is  the  small 
city  of  Grinima,  and,  close  by,  the  hamlet  of  Nimbschen, 
where,  in  a  building  now  a  farmhouse,  there  was  a  nunnery. 
In  some  way  or  other,  a  ray  of  the  light  that  had  dawned  in 
Wittenberg  pierced  these  encloistered  walls.  Luther's  writ- 
ings convinced  some  of  these  nuns,  who  came  from  families 
of  noble  birth  now  reduced  to  poverty,  that  it  was  impossible 
for  them  to  "serve  God  acceptably"  in  a  nunnery.  Their 
desire  for  freedom  induced  them  to  write  to  their  parents, 
saying,  "Our  continuance  in  the  cloister  is  incompatible 
with  the  salvation  of  our  souls."  With  all  humility  they 
begged  their  parents  to  help  them  gain  their  liberty,  prom- 
ising that  they  would  gladly  share  the  burdens  and  trials 
resulting  from  such  an  act.  In  much  anxiety  they  waited 
fo.r  the  reply;  it  came,  and  saddened  them  yet  more,  because 
their  parents  refused  to  receive  them.  In  the  hour  of  their 
deep  distress  they  turned  to  Luther  for  advice  and  help.  We 
have  no  record  of  a  personal  letter  having  been  addressed 
to  Luther,  but  we  do  know  that  Luther  heard  about  their 
predicament  and  intervened  in  their  behalf. 

In  Torgau  lived  two  respectable  citizens  and  friends  of 
Luther,  Leonhard  Koppe  and  Wolf  Tommitzsch.  To  them 
Luther  entrusted  the  difficult  task  of  freeing  the  nuns.  On 
Easter  eve,  twelve  young  women  made  an  opening  in  the 
clay  wall  of  the  cloister,  and  reached  the  covered  M-agons 
that  were  waiting  for  them.  Of  the  number,  three  were 
received  into  their  own  homes.  The  remaining  nine,  unable 
to  return  home,  since  they  came  from  the  territory  of  that 
implacable  foe  of  the  Eeformation,  Duke  George,  were 
brought  three  days  later,  in  covered  herring  barrels,  as 
the  chronicle  of   Torgau  has   it,  to  Luther  at   Wittenberg. 


140  LUTHER'S    MAERIAGE. 

Lutlier  recognized  the  fact  that  the  Lord  had  thrown  them 
^upon  him,  and  the  charge  was  one  which  he  could  not 
refuse.  But  he,  to  whom  they  looked  for  the  necessaries  of 
life,  being  penniless,  could  not  provide  for  them.  All  that 
he  could  do  was  to  go  around  to  the  respectable  families 
of  Wittenberg,  and  ask  that  these  helpless  maidens  be  tempo- 
rarily given  shelter,  until  they  could  be  placed  in  permanent 
homes. 

Then,  to  protect  the  good  name  of  his  wards,  as  well 
as  his  own,  Luther  wrote  a  long  letter  to  Leonhard  Koppe, 
commending  him  for  having  come  to  the  relief  of  innocence 
in  distress.  In  this  letter,  which  was  published,  Luther 
writes:  "You  have  done  a  new  w^ork  that  will  be  celebrated 
throughout  the  whole  land.  Many  will  stigmatize  it  as  most 
disgraceful,  but  godly  people  will  proclaim  it  as  most  praise- 
worthy. .  .  .  Some  will  say  that,  since  this  was  secretly 
planned,  I  am  a  robber.  But  I  answer :  Yea,  a  blessed 
robber,  just  as  Christ  was  a  robber,  when,  by  His  death,  He 
led  captivity  captive."  Then  he  publishes  a  list  of  the  names 
"of  these  poor  children"  whom  he  had  delivered  from  their 
prison:  Magdalene  Staupitz,  Veronica  Leschau,  the  sisters 
Lanita  and  Ave  von  Goltz,  Katharina  von  Bora,  Elizabeth 
von  Kanitz,  Katharina  Zeschau,  and  the  sisters,  Ave  and 
Margaretha  von  Schoenfeld. 

In  writing  to  Spalatin,  Luther  calls  the  nine  fugitive 
nuns  "a  sorry  lot."  ...  "I  pity  them  much,  but  most  of  all 
the  others  who  are  djdng  everywhere  in  such  numbers  in 
their  cursed  and  impure  celibacy.  You  ask  what  I  shall  do 
with  them.  Some  of.  the  families  have  already  promised 
me  to  take  them;  for  some  I  shall  get  husbands  if  I  can." 
The  three  who  remained  longest  at  Wittenberg  were  Ave 
von  Schoenfeld,  her  sister  Margaretha,  and  Katharina  von 
Bora.  According  to  a  remark  which  Luther  made  many 
years  later,  Ave  von  Schoenfeld  was  his  favorite  among  the 
nine,  and  had  he  been  in  a  situation  to  marry,  she  would 
have  been  his  choice.  But  she  and  her  sister  having  found 
husbands,  Katharina,  whose  father  was  now  dead,  was  left 
alone.     She  had  been  taken  into  the  house  of  the  rich  and 


Luther's  marriage.  141 

honorable  Reichenbach,  who  at  times  held  the  office  of  burgo- 
master at  Wittenberg.  Here  the  girl  lived  about  two  years, 
during  which  time  she  learned  housekeeping,  and  won  for 
herself  a  highly  creditable  reputation  in  Wittenberg  society. 
She  was  on  intimate  terms  with  the  family  of  Lucas  Cranach, 
the  portrait  painter,  and  meeting  there  the  King  of  Denmark, 
received  from  him  a  ring  as  a  token  of  his  esteem. 

So  little  did  Luther  think  of  marrying  Katharina  von 
Bora  that  he  recommended  her  as  a  wife  to  two  of  his 
friends ;  one.  of  them  did  not  wish  to  follow  his  advibe,  and 
Katharina  herself  refused  the  other,  namely  Dr.  Glatz,  pastor 
at  Orlamuende.  Her.  w'omanly  instinct  read  his  character 
better  than  Luther  had,  since,  some  years  later,  Dr.  Glatz 
had  to  be  deposed  from  the  ministry.  The  idea  of  marrying 
a  man  who  was  so  repugnant  to  her  induced  Katharina  to 
go  to  Amsdorf,  Luther's  closest  friend,  and  complain  to  him 
that  Luther  was  trying  to  force  her  to  marry  against  her 
will  a  man  whom  she  would  never  think  of  in  that  relation. 
The  case,  she  continued,  would  be  very  different,  should 
either  Luther  or  Amsdorf  be  proposed  to  her.  It  was  the 
negative,  not  the  positive  side  of  her  plea  that  Katharina 
was  urging  in  her  frank  and'  open-hearted  w^ay.  Had  it 
been  otherwise,  Amsdorf  would  have  been  more  hasty  in 
conferring  with  Luther  on  the  subject.  But,  for  six  months, 
Luther  seems  not  to  have  heard  of  this  remarkable  statement. 

Meanwhile,  Spalatin  received  a  letter  from  a  noble  lady, 
Argula  von  Staufen,  wife  of  the  Ritter  von  Grumbach,  both 
of  whom  were  faithful  friends  of  the  Reformation.  This 
letter,  in  which  Argula  von  Staufen  expressed  her  surprise 
that  Luther  did  not  marry,  was  forwarded  to  Luther.  Tn 
replying  to  Spalatin,  Luther  said :  "I  am  not  surprised 
that  folks  gossip  thus  about  me,  as  they  g^ossip  about  many 
other  things.  But  please  thank  the  lady  in  my  name,  and 
tell  her  that  I  am  in  the  hands  of  the  Lord,  as  a  creature 
whose  heart  He  can  change  and  rechange,  destroy  or  revive, 
at  any  hour  or  moment;  but  as  my  heart  has  hitherto  been, 
and  is  now,  it  will  never  come  to  pass  that  I  shall  take 
a  wife.    Not  that  I  am  insensible  to  the  charms  of  marf-ied 


142  LUTHER'S    MARRIAGE. 

life.  I  am  neither  wood  nor  stone;  but  my  mind  is  averse 
to  wedlock,  because  I  daily  expect  death  and  the  punishment 
of  a  heretic."    This  letter  was  dated  November  30,  1524. 

In  March,  1525,  Luther  wrote  a  very  pathetic  letter  to 
xlmsdorf,  begging  him,  as  he  valued  his  friendship,  to  come 
at  once  to  Wittenberg.  It  seems  that  Luther  was  no  longer 
able  to  bear  the  loneliness  of  his  bachelor  life.  For  an  entire 
year,  Luther  confesses  that,  when  w^earied  with  his  day's 
work,  he  tumbled  at  night  into  an  unmade  bed,  mildewed 
with  perspiration.  Such  habits  were  not  only  unnatural, 
but  harmful  to  the  health  both  of  mind  and  body.  The 
divine  precept:  "It  is  not  good  that  man  should  be  alone," 
must  have  often  occurred  to  him  in  his  loneliness  and  squalor. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  Luther  preached,  on  the  Second 
Sunday  after  Epiphany,  on  how  one  should  seek  a  wife,  and 
in  what  way  the  marriage  estate  should  be  entered,  there  is 
no  trace  that  he  had  any  special  interest  in  procuring  a  wife 
for  himself,  until  Amsdorf  came  to  visit  him  in  answer  to 
Luther's  urgent  request.  During  his  stay  in  Wittenberg, 
Amsdorf  must  have  related  to  Luther  what  Katharina  von 
Bora  had  said  about  her  willingness  to  listen  to  a  proposal, 
if  it  came  from  Luther  or  from  himself.  Since  Amsdorf 
had  no  inclination  to  marry  either  then  or  later,  he  most 
likely  encouraged  Luther  to  take  Katharina  as  his  helpmeet, 
and  thus  follow  the  advice  he  had  given  to  others. 

On  April  16,  Luther  started  on  his  trip  to  Mansfeld  to 
preach  against  the  peasants'  rising.  His  already  half-formed 
purpose  of  taking  the  frank  nun  at  her  word  was  increased 
by  his  father,  whom  he  saw  at  this  time,  and  whose  earnest 
wish  and  continual  importunity  determined  the  decision. 

His  first  announcement  of  his  intentions  is  in  a  letter  of 
May  4th,  to  the  Chancellor  of  Duke  Albert  of  Mansfeld,  where 
he  says,  "Before  I  die,  I  hope  to  marry  my  Katie  in  spite  of 
the  devil."  Luther's  mind  was  evidently  changing  in  regard 
to  the  opinion  he  formerly  entertained  toward  l^^atharina.  She 
had  appeared  to  him  as  being  proud  and  haughty.  He  now 
looked  upon  her  in  a  more  favorable  light.  She  was  not 
beautiful,   as   her   existing  portraits    abundantly   show,   but 


lutiier's  marriage,  143 

her  chastity  and  piety  more  than  made  up  for  the  lack  of 
a  pretty  face. 

Lutlier  did  not  enter  into  matrimony  unadvisedly  or 
lightly,  but  reverently,  discreetly,  advisedly,  soberly,  and  in 
the  fear  of  God.  When  he  thought  of  taking  his  Katie,  he 
prayed  earnestly  to  God,  as  he  himself  says,  that  God  might 
grant  him  a  godly  wife,  with  whom,  by  the  grace  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  he  might  lead  a  godly  life.  But  after  Luther 
had  asked  the  Lord  to  guide  him  in  the  choice  of  a  pious 
helpmeet,  and  there  seemed  to  be  no  valid  reason  for  post- 
poning his  marriage  any  longer,  he  acted  with  startling 
rapidity.  Notwithstanding  her  confession  to  Amsdorf, 
Katharina  herself  was  surprised  when  Luther  took  her  at 
her  word,  and  announced  that  she  could  have  the  alternative 
she  had  suggested.  No  friends  were  consulted ;  no  announce- 
ments w^ere  made;  no  opportunity  for  the  spread  of  gossip 
was  given.  A  protracted  engagement  was  the  last  thing  he 
desired.  Years  later  he  remarked,  "It  is  very  dangerous  to 
put  off  your  wedding,  for  Satan  gladly  interferes  and  makes 
great  trouble  through  evil  talkers,  slanderers,  and  friends 
of  both  parties.  If  I  had  not  married  quickly  and  secretly, 
and  taken  few  into  my  confidence,  every  one  would  have  done 
what  he  could  to  hinder  me;  for  all  my  best  friends  cried, 
^Not  this  one,  but  another.' " 

Wittenberg  was  startled  one  morning  by  the  information 
that,  on  the  preceding  evening  (June  13th),  its  most  promi- 
nent citizen  had  been  married  to  this  homeless  refugee.  As 
the  news  spread  from  house  to  house,  the  story  ran  that  Luther 
had  gone  to  the  home  of  Philip  Reichenbach,  with  his  two 
colleagues,  Bugenhagen  and  Justus  Jonas,  and  with  one 
of  the  professors  in  the  law  department  of  the  university, 
Dr.  Apel,  and  the  painter  Lucas  Cranach  and  his  wife,  and 
that,  before  these  witnesses,  Bugenhagen,  the  pastor  of  the 
city  church,  pronounced  Luther  and  Katharina  man  and  wife. 

Two  weeks  later,  June  27th,  the  public  ceremony  was 
solemnized  with  a  church-service,  followed  in  the  evening 
by  a  wedding-feast,  to  which  Luther's  friends  were  invited. 
He  wrote  to  them,  saying  that  they  were  to  "seal  and  ratify" 


144  LUTHER'S    MARRIAGE. 

his  marriage,  and  "help  to  pronounce  the  benediction."  The 
most  prominent  and  most  highly  gratified  guests  were 
Luther's  dear  father  and  mother.  Besides  the  Wittenberg 
professors,  and  the  entire  party  who  had  been  witnesses  of 
the  house  ceremony,  Amsdorf,  von  Dolzig,  the  elector's 
marshal,  Ruehl,  and  two  other  officers  from  the  court  of  the 
Count  of  Mansfeld  were  present.  Nor  was  Leonhard  Koppe, 
to  whom  Katharina  had  owed  her  freedom,  forgotten. 

Luther's  marriage  created  a  sensation.  It  amazed  both 
friend  and  foe.  Dr.  Jerome  Schurf,  who  had  stood  so  ably 
by  Luther  at  Worms,  had  prophesied  that,  in  case  the 
marriage  would  occur,  all  the  world  and  the  devils  would 
laugh,  and  Luther's  work  would  come  to  naught.  Not  so 
thought  Luther,  who  predicted  that  all  the  angels  would 
laugh,  while  all  devils  would  weep  and  rage.  Even  Melanch- 
thon  lost  his  self-possession;  for,  in  a  letter  to  Camerarius 
on  June  16th,  he  says:  "You  may  perhaps  be  surprised  that 
at  this  unhappy  time,  when  all  good  gentlemen  are  suffering, 
Luther  does  not  sympathize  with  them,  but,  as  it  seems, 
prefers  a  life  of  pleasure,  and  to  lower  his  dignity,  though 
Germany  has  now  the  greatest  need  of  his  wisdom  and 
strength."  He  expects  a  wave  of  indignation  which  will 
do  much  damage  to  the  evangelical  cause.  At  the  same  time, 
he  pronounces  the  marriage  an  entirely  honorable  one,  and 
is  confident  that  Luther  will  be  able  to  survive  the  storm. 
Many  other  friends  regretted  that  Luther  had  chosen  Katie 
rather  than  some  woman  of  wealth  and  position.  The  time, 
too,  seemed  inopportune.  The  Elector  of  Saxony  had  died 
only  a  month  before.  The  Peasants'  War  was  not  yet  ended, 
and  the  whole  country  was  in  an  uproar.  In  these  circum- 
stances many  felt  as  though  the  great  Reformer's  mind 
should  have  been  full  of  things  other  than  marriage.  An  old 
legend  was  current  during  the  time  of  the  Reformation  that 
the  Antichrist  should  be  born  of  the  union  between  a  monk 
and  a  nun.  When  Luther's  marriage  became  known  to  his 
enemies,  they  boastingly  said :  "Now  we  may  expect  the 
coming  of  the  Antichrist";  whereas  the  going  of  the  Anti- 
christ   was    proceeding    at    an    alarming   rate    of    speed,    so 


lutiier's  marriage.  145 

alarming-  that  the  pope  and  his  minions  saw  the  handwriting 
on  the  wall,  and  tried  to  divert  the  attention  of  the  world 
from  their  own  wickedness  by  spreading  slanderous  tales 
about  Luther  and  his  bride.  Ah,  the  renegade  monk  and 
the  runaway  nun !  What  a  sinister  light  that  union,  con- 
trary to  all  ecclesiastical  and  civil  law,  threw^  upon  the  whole 
Reformation  movement !  Now  it  was  clear  what  Luther 
had  in  mind  from  the  beginning! 

But  Luther,  as  usual,  was  unmoved  by  the  criticisms  of 
his  friends  and  the  attacks  of  his  foes.  He  never  felt  so  con- 
fident he  was  right  as  when  his  enemies  denounced  him. 
Lie  was  glad  that  he  had  exposed  the  glaring  contradiction, 
propounded  by  popery,  that  marriage  is  a  sacrament,  and 
yet  not  holy  enough  for  priests  and  nuns  to  enter.  He  was 
glad  that  he  had  by  his  own  example  restored  to  its  former 
place  of  honor  the  institution  of  matrimony.  Lie  was  glad 
that  he  had  the  courage  of  his  convictions  to  defy  the 
opinions  of  men,  and  to  take  another  step  in  his  reformatory 
work  which,  for  its  boldness,  may  well  be  compared  with 
his  burning  of  the  papal  bull  and  his  heroic  stand  at  Worms. 
The  people  of  his  day  were  sadly  in  need  of  such  an 
example  of  domestic  life  as  Luther  was  able  to  give.  "His 
marriage  to  Catharine  von  Bora,  was,  on  the  whole,  as  far 
as  we  can  infer  from  his  own  confession  and  public  appear- 
ances, a  happy  one,"  as  the  Catholic  Encyclopedia  admits. 
The  following  sayings  of  Luther  give  us  a  charming  picture 
of  his  happy  home  life:  "I  would  not  change  my  Katie  for 
France  and  Venice,  becau^^e  God  has  given  her  to  me,  and 
other  women  have  worse  faults,  and  she  is  true  to  me  and 
a  good  mother  to  my  children.  If  a  husband  always  kept  such 
things  in  mind,  he  would  easily  conquer  the  temptation  to 
discord  which  Satan  sows  between  married  people."  "The 
greatest  happiness  is  to  have  a  w^ife  to  whom  you  can  trust 
your  business.  .  .  .  Katie,  you  have  a  husband  who  loves 
you;  many  an  empress  is  not  so  well  off."  "T  am  rich,  God 
has  given  me  my  nun  and  three  children  :  wliat  can^  I  if 
I  am  in  debt,  Katie  pays  the  bills." 

Katharina   was '  a    woman   of   sound   sense,   shrewd    and 
Four  Hundred  Years.  10 


146  luthee's  two  exiles:  wartburg  axd  cobueg. 

energetic  —  the  morning  star  of  Wittenberg,  as  her  husband 
called  her  with  reference  to  her  early  rising.  She  super- 
intended a  large  and  growing  household  with  considerable 
business  ability.  She  faithfully  cared  for  her  husband  on 
the  numerous  occasions  when  he  was  ill,  took  a  lively  interest 
in  his  reformatory  work,  and  helped  to  sweeten  the  cares 
and  sorrows  of  the  most  beloved  and  the  most  hated 
man  in  Christendom.  Born  January  29,  1499,  and  married 
when  she  was  twenty-six  years  old,  she  died  December  20, 
1552,  after  having  lived  in  holy  wedlock  for  twenty  years, 
and  experienced  seven  bare  years  of  widowhood  during  the 
calamities  of  the  Smalcald  War.  In  his  last  will  and  tes- 
tament, Luther  refers  to  her  as  "a  godly,  faithful,  upright 
wife,  who  has  always  shown  herself  worthy  of  all  love  and 
esteem,''  a  tribute  of  which  any  woman  might  be  proud. 


Luther's  Two  Exiles:    Wartburg  and 
Coburg. 

Rev.  H.  Frincke,  Monroe,  Mich. 

High  upon  a  lofty  mountain  peak  in  the  Thuringian 
forest,  overlooking  Eisenach  and  a  broad  expanse  of  the  sur- 
rounding country,  lies  the  Wartburg,  a  fortified  castle,  at 
the  time  of  Luther  the  property  of  Frederick  the  Wise,  the 
Elector  of  Saxony,  Luther's  sovereign.  This  historic  old 
castle  had  at  one  time  been  the  abode  of  that  beautiful  martyr, 
St.  Elizabeth,  and  the  favorite  gathering-place  of  Walter 
von  der  Vogelweide,  Wolfram  von  Eschenbach,  and  other 
German  poetical  celebrities.  It  was  now  destined  to  become 
the  temporary  residence  of  a  greater  martyr  and  a  greater 
German  poet.  Eor  to  this  retreat  Luther  was  brought  secretly 
and  forcibly  by  five  armed  riders  who  intercepted  him  on 
his  return  to  Wittenberg  from  the  Diet  of  Worms. 

This  seizure  had  been  arranged  by  the  Elector  himself, 
with  the  connivance  of  Luther  and  his  friends,  for  the 
purpose  of  removing  Luther  for  a  time  from  the  scene  of 
his  activities  and  out  of  the  reach  of  his  enemies.     For  be 


Luther's  two  exiles:  wartburg  and  coburg.  147 

it  remembered  that  Luther  had  been  excommunicated  by 
a  special  bull  of  the  pope,  and  that  Emperor  Charles  V  of 
Germany,  as  an  answer  to  Luther's  courageous  confession 
at  the  diet,  had  outlawed  him.  It  was  dangerous  to  take 
sides  with  Luther,  the  heretic  and  outlaw,  yet  Frederick  the 
Wise  was  his  firm  friend  and  pow^erful  protector,  and  the 
removal  of  Luther  to  the  Wartburg  was  but  one  of  the  many 
marks  of  friendship  and  favor  shown  Luther  by  this  noble 
sovereign.  And  in  order  to  be  able  to  affirm  with  a  clear 
conscience  his  complete  ignorance,  in  the  event  of  his 
being  asked  for  Luther's  whereabouts,  the  elector  refused 
to  be  made  a  party  to  the  secret  of  Luther's  residence  at  the 
Wartburg.  Thus  this  wise  prince  avoided  an  open  break 
with  the  emperor  and  with  the  Church  while  protecting 
Luther  and  furthering  the  cause  of  the  Gospel. 

At  the  Wartburg  Luther  was  known  as  Squire  George, 
a  state's  prisoner.  He  let  his  beard  grow,  and  also  permitted 
the  hair  to  grow  over  his  pate.  He  carried  a  sword  at  his 
side  and  a  gold  chain  around  his  neck  as  a  token  of  noble 
lineage.  A  page  attended  him  at  the  castle,  and  when  he 
ventured  forth  he  was  accompanied  by  a  groom,  who  acted 
both  as  a  protector  and  as  a  guide.  He  also  learned  to  bear 
himself  as  a  knight  by  carrying  his  weapons  correctly,  and 
stroking  his  beard  in  a  knightly  way. 

Yet  he  could  not  put  off  the  scholar.  When  on  his  rides 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  castle  he  entered  a  house,  he  would 
invariably  reach  for  the  books  that  happened  to  lie  about, 
so  that  his  companion  felt  himself  obliged  to  warn  him  that 
such  a  procedure  was  not  "knightly,"  because  "riding  and 
writing"  did  not  very  well  harmonize.  Still  worse,  Luther 
usually  carried  a  small  book  with  him. 

Whenever  he  met  some  monks  or  priests,  he  would  start 
a  theological  discussion  and,  among  other  things,  ask  them 
about  Luther,  thereby  inducing  his  companion  to  hasten  their 
departure,  in  order  to  avoid  detection. 

He  also  kept  up  a  secret  intercourse  with  some  Franciscan 
monks  with  whom  he  had  become  acquainted  while  attending 
school  at  Eisenach,  and  he  even  made  a  few  secret  visits  to 
Eisenach. 


148  LUTHER'S    TWO   EXILES:    WARTBUKG    AXD   COBLTIG. 

Besides  making  these  little  visits  he  would  pick  straw- 
berries or  indulge  in  hunting,  this  "truly  worthy  occupation 
of  idle  men,"  as  he  termed  it.  On  his  hunts  he  would  give 
himself  up  to  theological  meditations.  "The  hares  that  were 
hunted"  were  to  him  emblems  of  "the  believing  souls  chased 
by  the  hounds,  the  devil  and  his  godless  bishops  and  theo- 
logians." 

In  spite  of  these  physical  exertions  Luther's  health  was 
not  the  best.  His  host,  the  commandant  of  the  castle,  Hans 
von  Berlepsch,  w^ith  whom  he  was  on  the  best  of  terms,  and 
who  was  intelligent  enough  to  carry  on  a  conversation  with 
Luther  on  religious  topics,  provided  him  with  the  best  viands, 
which,  however,  did  not  agree  with  Luther,  who  had  been 
accustomed  to  frugal  monks'  fare.  In  consequence  he  was 
troubled  with  constipation  and  impaired  digestion.  Pills 
sent  him  upon  request  by  Spalatin,  the  court  preacher  of 
the  Elector,  soon  cured  him  of  these  little  ailments. 

Worse  than  these  were  the  spiritual  vexations  which 
afflicted  him.  He  ascribed  these  partly  to  Satan,  partly  to 
his  flesh,  and  insisted  that  it  was  more  difficult  to  wrestle 
against  these  powers  of  darkness  than  against  that  devil 
incarnate,  evil  man.  He  traced  these  vexations  back  to  the 
loneliness  of  his  abode,  as  well  as  to  the  neglect  of  his 
friends'  intercession.  We  may  well  believe  that  the  spooky 
and  uncanny  surroundings  up  in  that  lofty  chamber,  espe- 
cially during  stormy  weather,  were  conducive  to  such  afflic- 
tions. Yet  the  tale  that  he  threw  his  inkstand  at  the  devil 
is  a  myth. 

The  "idleness"  enforced  upon  him  by  his  retreat  gave 
him  an  opportunity  for  increased  activity  along  literary  lines. 

He  studied  the  Bible  in  both  the  Hebrew  and  Greek 
originals.  Lie  wrote  an  exposition  of  the  68th  Psalm  to 
be  used  for  the  celebration  of  Easter,  Ascension  Hay,  and 
Pentecost.  He  finished  his  exposition  of  the  "Magnificat" 
for  Prince  John  Frederick  of  Saxony,  and  continued  his 
work  on  the  Latin  exposition  of  the  Psalms,  taking  up  the 
thread  at  the  22d  Psalm.  A  discourse  "On  Confession, 
Whether  the  Pope  Has  the  Power  to  Enjoin  It"  he  dedicated 


LUTHER'S   TWO   EXILES:    WARTBURG   AND   COBURG.  149 

to  his  friend  Franz  von  Sickingcn,  though  it  was  intended 
for  the  common  people.  He  also  published  a  sermon  on 
the  Gospel  for  the  l-lth  Sunday  after  Trinity,  containing 
the  account  of  the  healing  of  the  ten  lepers.  For  his  con- 
gregation at  Wittenberg-  he  wrote  an  exposition  of  the  37th 
Psalm.  Besides  these  instructive  and  edifying  writings  he 
composed  various  works  of  a  polemical  nature,  among  others 
some  "Annotations  on  the  Bull  of  the  Pope,  entitled  Bulla 
coena  Domini/'  in  which  the  pope  condemns  all  old  and  new 
heresies.  Adding  Luther's  name  to  the  list  of  heretics  after 
the  names  of  IIus  and  Wyclif,  the  pope  had  caused  this  bull 
to  be  read  on  Maundy  Thursday  in  all  churches.  So  far  as 
we  know,  this  custom  still  prevails  in  the  Catholic  Church. 
Luther  translated  this  bull  into  the  German  language,  and 
published  it  with  his  notes  as  a  New  Year's  gift  to  the  pope. 
•He  also  addressed  a  sharp  letter  to  Archbishop  Albrecht  of 
Mayence,  who  had  again  introduced  the  sale  of  indulgences 
in  his  diocese. 

But  above  all  his  enforced  "leisure"  was  productive  of 
two  works,  through  which  he  has  performed  a  service  of 
inestimable  value  to  the  Church.  We  refer  to  his  German 
Church  Postil  and  to  his  translation  of  the  New  Testament. 

The  Church  Postil,  which  he  began  to  publish  while  at 
the  Wartburg,  contains  sermons  on  the  Epistle-  and  Gospel- 
lessons  for  each  Sunday,  These  sermons  were  not  delivered 
as  printed.  They  were  intended  primarily  for  pastors  (former 
priests)  ,  who  had  no  experience  in  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel.  In  an  emergency  they  could  read  one  of  these 
sermons  to  their  congregation.  However,  the  laymen  very 
soon  got  hold  of  the  book  and  read  it  diligently  to  the  great 
joy  of  Luther,  who  considered  this  book  the  best  he  had  ever 
written.  Yet  he  intended  it  merely  as  a  "scaffold  to  the  real 
building,  the  Word  of  God." 

To  make  this  Word  of  God  accessible  to  all,  he  translated 
the  New  Testament  into  the  German  language.  And  this 
is  his  greatest  achievement  during  his  stay  at  the  Wartburg. 
There  were  indeed  German  translations  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment at  hand.    However,  they  were  based  on  the  Latin  trans- 


150  LUTHER'S   TWO   EXILES:    WAETBUKG   AND   COBUEG. 

lation  of  the  Bible,  the  so-called  Vulgate.  Besides,  the 
language  left  much  to  be  desired.  Luther  translated  from 
the  original  Greek,  and  he  made  the  apostles  talk  German 
"like  the  mother  at  home,  the  children  in  the  street,  and  the 
business  man."  In  order  to  accomplish  this,  it  was  necessary 
for  him  to  create  a  new  language,  the  literary  German  of 
to-day.  Through  his  translation  of  the  Bible  Luther  became 
the  originator  of  the  German  language.  By  unanimous 
consent  of  classic  German  writers,  such  as  J.  Grimm, 
H.  Heine,  D.  Strauss,  W.  Wackernagel,  G.  Freytag,  and 
others,  Luther  is  the  first  and  greatest  new  High-German 
classic.  He  outranks  the  greatest  heroes  of  German  literature 
because  he  is  more  popular  and  versatile. 

In  three  months  the  great  work  was  finished.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1522,  Melchior  Lotter,  of  Wittenberg,  printed  the 
first  edition  on  three  presses.  Lucas  Cranach  embellished  it 
with  excellent  wood-cuts.  The  title  read:  "The  New  Testa- 
ment, German.  Wittenberg."  The  first  edition  consisted 
of  5,000  copies.    Price,  about  $6  in  United  States  money. 

It  is  needless  to  state  that  during  his  stay  at  the  Wart- 
burg  Luther  kept  up  a  diligent  correspondence  with  his 
friends  at  Wittenberg,  notably  with  Spalatin,  Melanchthon, 
Amsdorf,  and  Bugenhagen.  He  dated  his  letters  from  his 
"Patmos"  or  his  "desert"  or  the  "region  of  the  air"  or  the 
"region  of  the  birds." 

Through  his  friends  he  heard  of  various  excesses  com- 
mitted by  some  would-be  reformers,  such  as  Carlstadt, 
Didymus,  and  Agricola.  Priests  who  read  mass  had  been 
chased  out  of  the  churches.  The  Lord's  Supper  was  being 
administered  under  both  kinds  to  any  one  who  desired  it, 
without  preceding  confession.  Pictures  in  the  church  and 
cloister  had  been  torn  down  and  the  side-altars  removed. 
Schooling  and  the  sciences  were  being  condemned  as  un- 
necessary, and  the  direct  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon 
the  unlearned  was  taught.  The  so-called  Zwickau  Prophets, 
Thomas  Muenzer,  Nikolaus  Storch,  and  others,  denied  the 
necessity  of  reading  the  Bible,  and  rejected  the  ministry 
and  infant  baptism. 


Luther's  two  exiles:  wabtburg  and  coburg.  151 

The  rumors  of  these  disturbances  induced  Luther  to  go 
secretly  to  Wittenberg  for  the  purpose  of  advising  and 
exhorting  his  friends,  who  were  in  despair.  After  three  days 
he  returned  just  as  secretly  to  the  Wartburg.  But  when 
matters  grew  worse,  he  could  no  longer  contain  himself. 
He  left  the  Wartburg  for  good,  and  suddenly  appeared  at 
Wittenberg,  where  he  soon  restored  order,  and  resumed  his 
important  work  as  the  Reformer  of  the  Church.  His  stay 
at  the  Wartburg  covered  a  period  of  ten  months,  from 
May  4,  1521,  to  March  3,  1522. 

Luther's  detention  at  the  Wartburg  established  three 
important  truths.  It  taught  him  that  the  work  of  the  Refor- 
mation was  God's  work  and  not  his  own  nor  that  of  any 
one  man.  In  a  letter  written  to  his  sovereign  in  justification 
of  his  leaving  the  Wartburg  and  returning  to  Wittenberg 
against  the  wishes  of  the  Elector  he  gives  expression  to 
this  thought  in  the  following  sentences:  "Your  Electoral 
Grace  must  know,  or  ought  to  take  cognizance  of  the  fact, 
that  I  have  received  my  Gospel  not  through  men,  but  solely 
from  heaven."  Again:  "This  matter  cannot  be  helped  or 
promoted  with  the  sword.  God  alone  must  promote  it,  with- 
out any  human  assistance  or  concern."  Thus  Luther  was 
encouraged  to  remain  in  true  humility,  and  not  have  his  head 
turned  by  his  great  victory  at  Worms.  —  It  taught  his  friends 
and  colaborers  at  Wittenberg  that  without  Luther  they  were 
at  sea  and  completely  helpless.  This  knowledge  prevented 
the  spirit  of  jealousy  from  creeping  into  their  hearts. 
History  seldom  presents  the  spectacle  of  so  many  learned 
and  famous  men  working  together  in  such  perfect  harmony 
as  Luther  and  his  colaborers.  —  It  taught  the  Church  and 
the  world  at  large  that  Luther  was  the  divinely  appointed 
Reformer  of  the  Church,  who  was  under  God's  special  care 
and  protection.  The  hour  for  the  liberation  of  the  Church 
had  struck,  and  all  the  power  of  popes  and  princes  was 
unable  to  prevent  God's  designs. 

Nine  years  later,  from  April  23  to  October  5,  1530,  we 
find  Luther  at  the  Coburg,  another  fortified  castle  belonging 
to  his  sovereign,  Elector  John  of  Saxony,  who  had  succeeded 


152  Luther's  two  exiles:  wartburg  and  cobltig. 

his  brother  Frederick  the  Wise,  deceased,  in  the  electorate 
of  Saxony.  This  prince  favored  the  work  of  the  Reformation 
in  the  sarpe  spirit  of'faithfuhiess  and  self-sacrifice  as  his 
noble  brother.  While,  however,  Luther  and  Frederick  the 
Wise  had  never  personally  met,  the  intercourse  between 
Elector  John  and  Luther  was  frequent  and  intimate.  Of 
all  men  these  pious  Electors  of  Saxony  were,  under  God,  the 
mainstay  of  Luther  and  his  work.  They  were  the  instruments 
in  the  hands  of  God  for  the  protection  of  his  servant  Luther 
and  for  the  promotion  of  the  cause  of  the  pure  Gospel.  They 
conceived  this  to  be  their  share  of  the  great  work  in  which 
Luther  was  engaged,  and  they  cheerfully  and  devoutly  lent 
themselves  to  it. 

What  was  the  occasion  of  Luther's  sojourn  at  the  Coburg  ? 
Emperor  Charles  Y  had  issued  a  call  for  a  diet  to  be  held 
at  Augsburg,  in  Bavaria,,  in  April,  1530.  The  purpose  was 
to  "bring  about  a  reconciliation  of  the  dissenting  parties  in 
the  Church,  to  heal  the  breach,  to  leave  past  errors  to  the 
Savior,  to  hear  and  to  consider  each  one's  opinion  in  charity 
and  good  will,  to  lead  all  to  one  Christian  truth,  and  to  do 
away  with  everything  that  had  been  erroneously  said  and 
done  by  both  parties." 

The  principal  matter,  then,  to  be  settled  by  the  diet  was 
the  status  of  the  Protestants.  And  Luther  being  the  mouth- 
piece and  founder  of  the  Protestant  Church,  its  greatest 
exponent  and  most  valiant  defender,  it  was  but  natural  that 
he  should  attend  the  diet  and  present  the  cause  of  the 
Protestants.  But,  alas !  Luther  was  still  under  the  anathema 
of  the  pope,  and  outlawed  by  the  emperor.  It  was  impossible 
to  take  him  to  the  diet.  His  presence  there  would  hnv^ 
been  an  affront  to  the  emperor  and  to  all  the  Catholic 
princes,  not  to  mention  the  danger  to  his  life  and  liberty 
if  he  had  dared  thus  to  defy  the  emperor.  It  was,  therefore, 
the  part  of  wisdom  and  discretion  to  keep  Luther  away  from 
Augsburg,  and  yet  near  enough  to  be  able  to  consult  him 
personally,  if  necessary.  Coburg,  a  city  in  the  vicinity,  with 
its  castle  fort,  was  just  such  a  safe  retreat  for  Luther  as 
was   needed.     It   was   near,    and    it    was   under    the   juris- 


LUTHER'S    TWO    EXILES:    WARTHFRG    AND    CORURG.  153 

dictidn  of  tlie  Saxon  sovereign.    And  the  castle  afforded  liini 
a  pleasant  residence  during  the  sessions  of  the  diet. 

But  what  a  change  in  nine  years !  What  a  contrast 
between  Wartburg  and  Coburg,  between  Worms  and  Augs- 
))urg!  Then  he  stood  alone,  with  but  one  single  prince  as 
his  sponsor  and  protector.  Now  the  cause  that  he  espoused 
had  gained  a  foothold  in  all  Germany,  and  its  numerous 
representatives  and  defenders  were  among  the  mightiest  and 
noblest.  "God  help  me!"  had  been  the  cry  of  Luther  at 
•Worms.  And  God  had  heard  his  fervent  prayers,  and  had 
helped  him  beyond  all  expectations. 

Although  Luther  could  not  personally  attend  the  sessions 
of  the  diet,  he  "was  the  guiding  genius  of  the  forces  at  the 
diet  that  stood  for  purity  of  doctrine  and  holiness  of  life. 
Like  a  modern  general  who  sits  in  perfect  security  behind 
the  firing-line,  deceiving  messages  by  telephone  and  telegraph, 
through  couriers  and  aeroplanes,  and  thus  gaining  a  clear 
insight  into  conditions  on  the  field  of  battle,  which  enables 
him  to  dispose  of  his  troops  and  batteries  in  such  a  w^ay 
that  victory  is  assured,  so  Luther  from  the  Coburg  marshaled 
his  :^rces  and  smote  the  enemy.  How  helpless  were  his 
friends  without-  him,  how  w^eak,  how  faint-hearted  and  de- 
jected! The  sorriest  of  them  all  was  Melanchthon,  d  good 
man  and  a  learned  one,  well  deserving  of  the  title  Magister 
Germaniae,  but  vacillating,  weak-kneed,  wholly  incapable  of 
"trying  the  spirits  whether  they  were  of  God,"  always  ready 
and  eager  to  compromise  with  the  enemy,  and  to  sacrifice 
important  truths  in  order  to  appease  the  wrath  of  tlie 
opponents.  It  was  true  what  Luther  once  wrote  him :  "What 
troubles  you  is  your  philosophy,  not  your  theology."  It  was 
Luther  who  through  his  letters  from  the  Coburg  strengthened, 
advised,  encouraged,  reprimanded,  warned,  and  thus,  under 
God,  led  his  friends  to  victory.  For  was  not  the  reading 
of  the  Augsburg  Confession  a  splendid  victory? 

As  an  illustration  of  the  sort  of  letters  written  by  Luther 
to  Melanchthon  during  this  time  we  append  the  following: 
"I  have  received  your  Apology  [the  Augsburg  Confession], 
and  wonder  why  you  ask  what  and  how  much  we  shall  con- 


154  Luther's  two  exiles:  wartbukg  and  cobubg. 

cede  to  the  papists.  Were  the  question  this  that  the  Elector 
is  threatened  with  danger,  I  would  grant  that  we  might  ask 
how  far  for  his  sake  we  might  yield.  As  far  as  I  am  con- 
cerned, you  have  conceded  more  than  enough  in  this  Apology, 
and  if  they  do  not  accept  it,  I  cannot  see  where  I  could  con- 
cede more,  unless  they  adduce  clearer  arguments  and  passages 
of  Holy  Writ  than  I  have  so  far  seen.  This  matter  occupies 
me  day  and  night.  I  think,  meditate,  search,  and  run  through 
the  w^hole  Scriptures,  and  my  confidence  in  this  our  doctrine 
grows  apace,  and  I  wax  more  firm  in  my  determination  that, 
God  willing,  I  shall  allow  nothing  to  be  taken  away  from  me, 
no  matter  how  it  turns  out.  —  It  did  not  at  all  please  me  to 
see  you  write  that  you  had  followed  my  leadership  in  this 
matter.  In  this  cause  I  neither  desire  to  be  your  leader  nor 
even  to  be  called  such.  I  shall  not  tolerate  that  word,  even 
though  it  may  be  explained  more  innocently.  If  this  cause 
is  not  jointly  and  completely  yours,  I  shall  not  permit  it  to 
be  called  mine,  and  yet  have  it  saddled  upon  you.  If  it  is 
my  cause  alone,  I  shall  manage  it  myself. 

"In  my  last  letter  I  hope  I  have  comforted  you  not  to 
death,  but  to  new  life.  What  else  can  I  do?  You  worry 
because  you  cannot  grasp  the  result  and  end  of  the  cause 
with  your  hands.  But  if  you  could  understand  it,  I  would 
have  nothing  to  do  with  it,  much  less  would  I  be  its  leader. 
God  has  put  it  in  a  place  which  does  not  occur  in  your 
rhetoric  and  science,  whose  name  is  —  Faith.  All  things 
that  we  cannot  see  nor  feel  are  placed  upon  this  (Heb.  11,  1). 
Whoever  tries,  as  you  do,  to  make  these  invisible  things 
visible  and  tangible  will  receive  trouble  and  tears  as  the 
reward  of  his  labor.  Thus  it  is  with  you.  All  our  encourage- 
ment is  lost  on  you.  The  Lord  has  said  that  He  would  dwell 
in  the  thick  darkness  (1  Kings  8,  11),  and  hath  made  dark- 
ness His  secret  place  (Ps.  18,  12).  Whosoever  pleases  may 
arrange  it  differently.  Had  Moses  insisted  on  understanding 
how  he  would  escape  from  the  army  of  Pharaoh,  Israel  would 
still  be  in  Egypt.  May  God  increase  your  faith  and  ours! 
If  we  have  Him,  what  can  Satan  and  the  whole  world  dp 
to  us?     If  we  have  no  faith  ourselves,  why  should  we  not 


LUTHER'S   TWO   EXILES:    WARTBURG   AND   COBURG.  155 

at  least  comfort  ourselves  with  the  faith  of  others?  For 
most  assuredly  there  are  such  as  believe,  even  if  we  do  not 
believe,  —  unless  there  be  no  Church  on  earth  and  Christ 
cease  to  be  with  us  before  the  end  of  the  world  (Matt.  28,  20). 
For,  prithee,  if  He  is  not  with  us,  where  in  the  world  is  He? 
If  we  are  not  the  Church,  or  at  least  a  part  of  the  Church, 
where,  then,  is  the  Church?  Or  are  the  dukes  of  Bavaria, 
Ferdinand,  the  pope,  the  Turk,  and  their  ilk  the  Church? 
If  we  have  not  the  Word  of  God,  who,  then,  has  it  ?  If  God 
be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us?  (Rom.  8,  31.)  To  be  sure, 
we  are  sinners  and  ingrates,  but  that  is  no  reason  why  He 
should  be  a  liar.  And  even  though  we  err  in  manifold  ways, 
yet  we  cannot  err  in  this  sacred  cause.  But  you  do  not  listen 
to  this,  consequently  Satan  oppresses  you  and  makes  you  ill. 
May  Christ  heal  you !  To  this  end  I  pray  fervently  and 
unceasingly.     Amen." 

Luther  knew,  of  course,  that  his  cause  was  God's  cause, 
and  that  God  alone  could  save  and  promote  the  work  of 
the  Reformation.  He  therefore  turned  to  God  in  prayer. 
Veit  Dietrich,  his  amanuensis,  records  the  fact  that  Luther 
prayed  three  hours  daily,  setting  aside  for  prayer  those  hours 
■that  were  the  most  suitable  for  study.  He  heard  him  pray 
several  times,  and  was  overwhelmed  with  the  power  of  liis 
prayers.  The  results  of  his  prayers  were  seen  in  Augsburg. 
What  Luther  had  asked  in  the  secrecy  of  his  closet  God 
rewarded  him  openly. 

Prayer  was  the  comfort  in  his  sorrow.  While  in  Coburg, 
he  received  the  news  of  his  father's  death.  Immediately  he 
took  his  Book  of  Psalms,  went  into  his  study,  and  spent  the 
day  in  praying  and  weeping.  The  next  day  the  traces  of 
his  tears  were  still  visible  on  his  face. 

Luther  occupied  the  whole  castle  of  Coburg.  All  the  keys 
were  in  his  possession.  A  guard,  consisting  of  thirty  men, 
protected  the  castle  and  its  inmates.  In  complete  security 
and  in  the  midst  of  the  most  pleasant  surroundings  he  passed 
his  time  in  prayer,  meditation,  and  literary  work.  He  was 
especially  prolific  in  letter-writing.  He  wrote  as  many  as 
six   letters   in   one   day.     He   humorously   called   the   castle 


156  LUTHER'S    TWO   EXILES:    WARTBURG   AXD   COBURG. 

"Grubok,"  the  reverse  of  Koburg.  Then  again  he  called  the 
Coburg  his  Mount  Sinai,  but  promised  to  turn  it  into  Mount 
Zion,  and  to  build  three  huts,  one  for  the  psalms,  one  for 
the  prophets,  and  one  for  Aesopus. 

Luther  was  a  brilliant  letter- writer.  We  have  read  with 
delight  his  letter  to  Melanchthon  printed  above.  He  also 
wrote  home.  His  wife  sent  him  a  picture  of  his  little 
daughter  Magdalena.  It  gladdened  his  heart,  though  it  was 
very  dark.  A  letter  written  to  his  "dear  sonny  Haenschen" 
is  a  literary  gem.  Another  letter,  written  to  Chancellor 
Brueck,  to  whose  fortitude  and  optimism  the  Lutheran 
Church  owed  much,  holds  rank  with  the  best  ever  written. 
Here  it  is :  "I  have  written  several  times  to  my  most  gracious 
sovereign  and  to  our  friends,  so  that  I  almost  think  I  have 
done  too  much  writing,  especially  to  my  most  gracious 
sovereign,  as  though  I  doubted  that  God's  help  and  comfort 
were  more  and  stronger  with  his  Electoral  Grace  than  with 
me.  Plowever,  I  have  done  so  on  account  of  our  friends, 
some  of  whom  are  sorrowful  and  worried,  as  though  God 
had  forgotten  us;  while  He  cannot  forget  us,  except  He 
first  forget  Himself,  —  unless  our  cause  is  not  His  cause 
and  our  doctrine  not  His  Word.  Otherwise,  if  we  are  certain 
and  do  not  doubt  that  it  is  His  cause  and  Word,  then  our 
prayers  are  certainly  heard,  and  help  is  granted  and  re^dy, 
so  that  we  may  be  helped.  There  can  be  no  doubt  about  that. 
For  He  says :  'Can  a  woman  forget  her  sucking  child,  that 
she  should  not  have  compassion  on  the  son  of  her  womb  ? 
Yea,  they  may  forget,  yet  w^ll  I  not  forget  thee.  •  Behold, 
I  have  graven  thee  upon  the  palms  of  My  hand'  (Is.  49,  15). 

"Recently  I  saw  two  miracles.  The  first  is  this :  Looking 
out  of  the  window,  I  beheld  the  stars  in  the  sky  and  the 
whole  beautiful  dome  of  God,  and  yet  no  pillar  upon  which 
the  Master  had  set  such  dome.  Still  the  sky  did  not  fall 
down,  and  the  dome,  too,  is  firm.  Now  there  are  some  that 
seek  such  pillars,  and  would  like  to  touch  and  grasp  them. 
Not  being  able  to  do  so,  they  struggle  and  tremble  as  though 
the  sky  w^ould  surely  collapse,  and  that  from  no  other  reason 
than  because  they  do  not  grasp  nor  see  the  pillars.  If  they 
could  grasp  them,  the  sky  would  be  firm. 


LUTIIEK's    two    EXILES:    WARTBURG    AND   COBURG.  157 

"The  other  is  this :  I  saw  great,  thick  clouds  sail  above  us 
with  such  a  load  that  they  might  have  been  compared  to 
a  great  ocean;  yet  I  saw  no  bottom  upon  which  they  rested 
nor  a  vat  that  held  them;  still  they  did  not  fall  upon  us,  but 
greeted  us  with  a  sour  face  and  flew  away.  After  they  had 
passed,  there  shone  forth  both  the  floor  and  the  roof  that 
held  them,  the  rainbow.  That  was  indeed  a  weak,  thin,  little 
floor  and  roof,  disappearing  in  the  clouds,  and  more  of 
a  shadow  shining  through  stained  glass  than  a  powerful 
bottom,  so  that  one  must  needs  despair  on  account  of  the 
bottom  as  well  as  on  account  of  the  weight  of  the  water. 
Yet  it  was  a  fact  that  a  shadow  apparently  so  feeble  bore 
the  weight,  of  the  water  and  protected  us.  Still  there  are 
such  as  consider,  estimate,  and  fear  the  thickness  of  the 
clouds  and  the  heavy  weight  of  the  water  more  than  those 
thin,  narrow,  and  light  shadows,  because  they  would  like  to 
feel  the  power  of  such  a  shadow;  if  they  cannot  do  that, 
they  fear  the  cloud  will  create  a  deluge. 

"Thus  must  I  jest  with  your  Honor  in  a  friendly  way, 
and  yet  I  do  not  write  jestingly;  for  it  gave  me  especial  joy 
when  I  heard  how  your  Honor  above  all  others  maintains 
good  courage  and  cheerfulness  in  this  our  trouble.  This  work 
that  God  has  given  us  in  His  mercy  He  will  bless  through 
His  Holy  Spirit,  and  promote  it,  and  provide  ways  and 
means  to  help  us  whenever  and  wherever  it  pleases  Him, 
and  not  forget  nor  neglect  us.  They  have  not  yet  half  suc- 
ceeded, these  men  of  blood,  nor  are  they  all  at  home  again, 
or  wherever  they  would  like  to  be.  Our  rainbow  is  weak, 
their  clouds  are  powerful ;  but  the  final'  outcome  will  be  in 
our  favor.  Your  Honor  will  please  pardon  my  prattle,  and 
comfort  ]\Iagister  Philip  and  all  the  others.  May  Christ 
comfort  and  sustain  our  most  gracious  sovereign !" 

Such  words  could  not  fail  to  inspire  Luther's  friends  with 
confidence  and  trust  in  God  for  a  successful  termination 
of  their  cause. 

Luther  was  a  great  lover  of  nature.  The  assem1)ly  of 
crows,  jackdaws,  and  other  birds  in  a  grove  under  his  window 
gave  him  occasion  to  write  a  letter  to  his  boarders  at  home. 


158  Luther's  two  exiles:  wartbukg  and  cobl'bg. 

in  which,  in  a  humorous  vein,  he  describes  the  diet  of  the 
birds.  "They  do  not  care  for  great  palaces  and  halls.  Their 
hall  is  arched  with  the  beautiful  broad  sky,  their  floor  is 
naught  but  a  field  wainscoted  with  nice  green  branches,  and 
their  walls  are  as  wide  as  the  world."  He  could  not  find 
out,  he  said,  what  they  had  resolved  to  do.  As  far  as  he  had 
understood  their  interpreter,  however,  they  were  about  to 
engage  in  a  great  warfare  against  wheat,  barley,  oats,  malt, 
and  all  kinds  of  grain  and  corn,  "and  many  a  one  will  per- 
form great  deeds  and  be  made  a  knight." 

Those  birds  remind  him  of  the  sophists  and  papists  with 
their  preaching  and  writing,  who  are  ever  before  him  with 
their  lovely  voices  and  sermons,  and  he  sees  how  useful  they 
are  in  consuming  everything  on  earth  and  croaking  in  return 
by  way  of  pastime. 

Passing  on  to  other  literary  work  performed  by  him  while 
at  Castle  Coburg,  we  mention  the  exposition  of  the  first 
25  Psalms,  which  he  dictated  to  Veit  Dietrich,  and  the  trans- 
lation of  the  Bible,  which  had  advanced  to  the  prophets. 

One  of  his  most  important  writings  bore  the  title:  "Ex- 
hortation to  the  Clergy  Assembled  at  the  Diet  of  Augsburg." 
This  discourse  is  really  his  Augsburg  Confession.  He  ad- 
monishes the  bishops  to  abolish  all  errors  in  doctrine,  and  not 
to  hinder  the  spreading  of  the  Gospel.  The  keynote  sounded 
in  this  powerful  address  may  be  heard  in  the  following 
sentence:  "If  I  live,  I  shall  be  your  pestilence;  if  I  die, 
I  will  be  your  death." 

Melanchthon  had  finished  a  draft  of  the  Augsburg  Con- 
fession, which  the  Elector  sent  to  Luther  for  his  opinion. 
He  read  it  carefully,  and  summed  up  his  verdict  in  the 
following  words:  "I  have  read  Magister  Philip's  Apology. 
I  like  it  very  much,  and  have  nothing  to  amend  or  to  change 
in  it.  Nor  would  such  a  thing  be  proper,  since  I  cannot 
tread  so  lightly  and  softly.  Christ,  our  Lord,  grant  that  it 
may  produce  much  good,  as  we  hope  and  pray.     Amen." 

This  so-called  Apology  was  subsequently  read  on  June  25th 
at  the  Diet  of  Augsburg  before  the  emperor,  the  sovereigns 
of  the  various  states  and  the  churchmen  assembled,  and  since 


WITTENBERG   IN  THE  DAYS   OF  LUTHER.  159 

then  is  known  as  the  Augsburg  Confession,  the  most  precious 
jewel  among  the  confessions  of  our  dear  Lutheran  Church. 

Other  writings  composed  at  Coburg  were:  "Circular 
Letter  an  Translating  and  the  Intercession  of  the  Saints"; 
"Sermon  on  Sending  the  Children  to  School";  "A  Kecanta- 
tion  of  Purgatory" ;  "Of  the  Keys" ;  "Admonition  Regarding 
the  Sacrament  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  the  Lord." 

Xor  was  the  household  at  Coburg  Castle  forgotten  or 
neglected.  Luther  preached  regularly  to  them.  On  Michael- 
mas his  subject  was,  "The  Angels."  On  October  2,  he 
preached  on  the  raising  of  the  young  man  at  Nain. 

This  was  his  last  sermon  at  Coburg  Castle.  On  October  5, 
he  left  for  Wittenberg,  arriving  there  about  October  16. 
Was  he  satisfied?  He  had  every  reason  to  be  thankful  for 
what,  by  the  gracious  help  of  God,  had  been  accomplished. 
The  cause  of  the  Reformation  had  gained  prominence,  sta- 
bility, and  recognition.  Neither  Emperor  Charles  V  nor 
the  pope  and  their  henchmen  could  frustrate  it.  The  time 
had  come  when  the  power  of  popery  began  to  crumble  slowly, 
but  surely,  while  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  all  its  sweet- 
ness and  purity,  gained  the  ascendancy,  spreading  comfort, 
faith,  hope,  knowledge,  and  freedom  everywhere,  until  to-day 
it  is  the  ruling  power  of  the  world.  The  reading  of  the 
Augsburg  Confession  paved  the  way  for  the  Nuremberg  Peace 
Treaty,  which  was  signed  on  August  2,  1532,  two  years  later, 
by  the  emperor,  who,  among  other  things,  granted  free 
exercise  of  worship  to  the  Lutherans. 


Wittenberg  in  the  Days  of  Luther. 

Rev.  W.  Koepchex,  Xew  York,  N.  Y. 

The  history  of  this  ancient  and  famous  city,  where 
Dr.  Martin  Luther  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life,  and 
where  Rome's  huge  engine  of  fraud  and  oppression,  con- 
structed by  grasping  monks  and  perfidious  priests,  came 
to  a  sudden  stop,  dates  back  to  the  year  1180.  Wittenberg 
was  at  that  time  a  frontier  fortress,  erected  for  the  protection 


160  WITTENBERG   IX    THE    DAYS    OF    LUTHER. 

of  the  German  settlers  against  the  depredations  of  the  sur- 
rounding remnants  of  the  former  Slavonic  inhabitants.  It 
received  its  name  from  the  white  sand  hill  upon  which 
it  stood. 

When,  in  1486,  Frederick  III  of  Saxony  became  a  member 
of  the  Electoral  College,  —  the  body  of  princes  formerly 
entitled  to  choose  the  Emperor,  —  he  made  Wittenberg  the 
capital  of  his  northern  territory,  and  began  to  beautify  the 
town  with  a  number  of  imposing  buildings,  including  a  castle, 
a  church,  a  monastery,  and  a  university. 

Luther's  first  visit  to  this  city  was  in  1508.  He  came 
to  lecture  at  the  newly  founded  university,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  enroll  as  a  student  of  its  theological  department. 
Though  his  stay  was  only  temporary,  he  freely  expressed 
his  surprise  that  a  university  should  have  been  established 
in  such  an  unpromising  place,  which  was,  in  his  opinion, 
on  the  very  borders  of  civilization.  The  surrounding  country 
was  flat,  its  soil  was  poor  and  in  strong  contrast  to  the 
beautiful  hills  and  fertile  dales  of  Eisenach  and  the  golden 
meadows  of  Erfurt. 

In  the  fall  of  the  year  1511,  Luther  took  up  his  per- 
manent residence  in  Wittenberg,  and  it  is  from  this  time 
that  our  description  of  the  city  dates. 

Wittenberg,  in  the  days  of  Luther,  was  a  fortified  town, 
surrounded  by  a  wall  of  earth  and  brick  and  a  very  wide  and 
deep  moat.  The  wall  had  a  thickness  of  sixty  feet,  and 
was  pierced  by  three  gates.  The  Castle  Gate  was  at  the 
western  end,  the  Elster  Gate  —  leading  to  the  suburb 
Elster  —  was  at  the  eastern  end,  and  the  Elbe  Gate  was  at 
the  southern  end  of  the  town.  This  Elbe  Gate  was  about 
fifteen  minutes'  walk  from  the  bridge,  which,  at  this  point, 
spanned  the  river  and  connected  Wittenberg  with  the 
country  on  the  south  banks  of  the  Elbe.  This  bridge,  erected 
by  Elector  Frederick  in  1486,  was  1,050  feet  long  and  33  feet 
wide.  It  was  partly  burned  by  the  Swedes  in  1637.  Teams 
and  cattle  crossing  this  bridge  paid  a  small  toll.  For  pedes- 
trians this  tax  amounted  to  three  pfennigs  per  year,  payable 
in  three  instalments.    Merchants,  clergy,  and  noblemen,  how- 


WITTENBERG    IN    THE    DAYS    OF   LUTHER.  161 

ever,  were  exempt  from  these  charges.  Toll  was  also  col- 
lected at  Wittenberg-  from  the  various  boats  doing  business 
on  the  broad  and  winding  river  Elbe.  Fishing  in  the  river 
was  free  to  all,  but  the  fish  caught  had  first  to  be  offered  for 
sale  to  the  bailiff  of  the  castle. 

Wittenberg  was  not  a  small  town  as  towns  were  classed 
at  that  time.  It  had  within  its  walls  some  three  thousand 
inhabitants,  ^^fainz  at  that  time  numbered  no  more  than 
six  thousand,  Dresden  but  five  thousand,  and  Meissen  only 
two  thousand  souls.  According  to  the  tax  list  of  1513, 
Wittenberg  had  382  taxable  buildings  within  the  city  limits. 
One  hundred  and  seventy-two  of  these  were  houses  occupied 
by  "brew-heirs"  (hrauerhen) ,  citizens  who  were  permitted 
to  brew  beer  in  their  homes;  one  hundred  and  eighty-four 
were  small  houses  (huden),  whose  occupants  (hudellinge) 
were  not  allowed  the  privilege  of  brewing  beer;  and  twenty- 
six  homes  were  outside  the  wall,  but  within  the  limits  of 
the  city.  Besides  paying  a  brew-tax  of  twenty  groschen  per 
year,  each  brewer  had  military  duties,  and  was  compelled 
to  own  a  complete  outfit  of  armor  and  weapons.  Of  the 
hudellinge  and  suburbanites  only  one  out  of  four  was  ex- 
pected to  own  such  an  outfit.  For  its  defense  the  town  had 
in  reserve  one  hundred  sets  of  armor,  cannons,  guns,  wagons 
with  implements  of  war,  provisions,  and  tents. 

The  citizens  were  mostly  farmers,  artisans,  and  trades- 
men, and  their  homes  were  small  buildings  of  wood  and  clay, 
thatched  with  straw.  The  streets  were  narrow  and  un- 
improved, and  the  many  cows,  pigs,  geese,  and  chickens  kept 
by  the  inhabitants  only  helped  to  make  matters  worse.  The 
streets  had  names,  e.  g.,  Kollegien-,  Schlosz-,  Buergermeister-, 
Juristenstrasse,  but  the  houses  were  not  numbered.  ISTo 
streets  were  lighted;  people  who  were  out  after  sundown 
carried  lanterns.  Two  brooks.  The  Lazy  and  The  Quick,  and 
a  number  of  public  and  private  wells  supplied  the  town  with 
the  necessary  water.  These  wells  and  brooks  wore  uncovered, 
and  were,  without  doulu,  instrumental  in  sproadinu'  the 
periodical  visitations  of  the  plague.  For  mutual  protection 
against  fire  every  citizen  was  compelled  to  provide  himself 

Four  Hundred  Years.  1 1 


162  WITTENBERG   IN    THE   DAYS    OF   LUTHEE. 

with  a  pail,  made  of  leather,  an  ax,  and  a  ladder,  and  to 
keep  a  barrel  filled  with  water  next  to  his  house.  Augsburg- 
was  the  first  German  city  to  use  a  fire-engine.  That  was  in 
1518.  Wittenberg  saw  no  such  fire-fighting  apparatus  during 
Luther's  time,  probably  because  there  was  only  one  fire  worth 
mentioning  during  all  those  long  years.  There  were  no 
floods  from  the  overflowing  Elbe  during  Luther's  time,  such 
as  occurred  in  1432,  and  again  in  1594,  and  in  1598,  when 
the  water  was  driven  from  four  to  six  feet  against  the 
Elster  Gate. 

The  city  of  Wittenberg  enjoyed  many  privileges.  It  had 
its  own  court,  coined  its  own  money,  collected  the  fees  for 
the  stands  of  the  public  markets  held  three  times  each  year, 
and  was  nearly  entirely  independent  from  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  castle  bailiff.  It  owned  several  villages  and  their 
incomes,  and  had  the  exclusive  control  of  the  wine-trade 
within  the  city  walls. 

The  pride  of  Wittenberg,  however,  and  a  source  of  great 
revenue  for  its  citizens,  was  its  university,  the  Collegium 
Fridericianum,  opened  October  18,  1502,  with  416  enrolled 
students.  This  school  of  learning,  which,  under  the  guidance 
of  the  Lord,  became  the  spiritual  heart  of  Germany,  owed 
its  inception  to  Emperor  Maximilian  I.  At  the  Diet  of 
Worms  in  1495,  he  suggested  to  the  princes  that  they  found 
universities  within  their  provinces  to  provide  higher  edu- 
cation for  their  subjects.  This  suggestion  met  with  the 
enthusiastic  approval  of  the  cultured  and  liberal  elector, 
Frederick  of  Saxony.  Among  the  reasons  given  why  Witten- 
berg was  selected  as  the  site  for  the  proposed  high  school 
was  the  hint  of  the  emperor  that  the  people  of  Wittenberg 
and  vicinity  were  in  sore  need  of  an  education  such  as  would 
be  supplied  by  the  proposed  high  school.  And  this  was 
indeed  the  case.  There  was  an  appalling  ignorance  among 
the  citizens  of  this  border-town.  Very  few  could  write 
their  names,  and  they  would  sign  necessary  documents  by 
making  their  sign  manual.  One  solitary  school,  rather  small 
in  size  and  primitive  in  its  equipment,  supplied  the  required 
instruction  for  the  boys.     Its  teacher,  George  Mohr,  was  of 


WITTENBERG    IX    THE    DAYS    OF    LUTHER.  163 

a  very  erratic  temperament.  When  the  radical  and  impetuous 
Carlstadt  had  his  first  brainstorm,  in  1522,  and  began  to  de- 
nounce education,  ]Mohr  closed  his  school,  and  advised  the 
people  not  to  send  their  children.  The  building,  located  on  the 
south  side  of  the  cemetery  at  the  parish  church  (Stadtkirche), 
was  thereui)()ii  u-^ed  as  a  bakery.  It  was  reopened  in  1523 
with  a  new  teacher,  but  another  twenty  years  passed  before 
the  city  erected  a  larger  and  more  up-to-date  building.  The 
girls  received  instruction  at  the  parsonage  by  one  of  the 
l)ari8h  ])ricsts. 

Although  the  university  owed  its  charter  to  the  emperor, 
and  not  to  the  pope,  it  was  a  truly  denominational  college 
of  the  sixteenth  century.  Its  professors  were  obliged  to  take 
the  common  oath,  that  they  would  teach  nothing  contrary 
to  the  established  doctrines  of  the  Church,  and  Frederick 
had,  therefore,  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  from  the  Cardinal- 
Legate  to  Germany,  Raymundus,  consent  and  blessing  for 
his  institution.  The  careful  elector,  however,  applied  directly 
to  the  pope,  and  received,  on  June  20,  1507,  from  Julius  II 
a  special  bull,  sanctioning  Raymundus's  act,  and  granting 
to  the  University  of  Wittenberg  all  the  privileges  and  ad- 
vantages enjoyed  by  the  most  ancient  schools  of  Europe. 
This  gaining  of  the  pope's  confirmation  of  the  charter  of 
Wittenberg  University  was  a  very  wise  and  shrewd  after- 
thought of  the  cautious  elector,  for  as  late  as  1533  it  hap- 
pened that  in  Vienna  they  refused  recognition  to  a  Witten- 
berg Doctor  because  that  university  had  been  founded  without 
the  pope's   authority. 

As  long*  as  the  university  was  in  a  formative  state,  from 
1502 — 1507,  and  its  revenues  too  limited  for  the  support  of 
a  better-equipped  cori)s  of  instructors,  the  chapter-house  of 
the  Castle  Church  and  the  Augustinian  cloister  at  the  Elster 
Gate  supplied  most  of  the  teachers.  The  department  of 
Theology  had  four  professorships.  Three  of  these  were  filled 
by  members  of  the  above-named  chapter-house  and  the  fourth 
by  John  von  Staupitz  from  the  cloister.  Staupitz  was  a  man 
of  high  scholarly  attainments,  and  since  1503  vicar-general 
of  the  Augustinian  order  in  Saxony.     As  one  of  Frederick's 


164  WITTENBERG   IX   THE   DAYS    OF   LUTHER. 

chief  advisers  in  the  founding  of  the  university  and  as  dean 
of  the  theological  faculty  he  not  only  called  eminent  scholars 
to  important  chairs,  but  provided  for  the  training  of  future 
professors  by  appointing  the  most  promising  young  scholars 
among  the  Augustinians  under  his  jurisdiction  as  instructors. 
In  Xovember,  1508,  seven  such  monks  were  sent  by  him  to 
Wittenberg,  where,  although  engaged  in  university'  work, 
they  were  to  reside  at  the  Augustinian  monastery,  and  devote 
a  large  portion  of  their  time  to  studJ^ 

In  the  department  of  Law,  which  comprised  five  pro- 
fessorships, we  find  besides  the  noted  Italian  jurist,  Peter 
of  Ravenna,  four  teachers  from  the  chapter-house.  Among 
these  was  the  punctilious  and  cautious  ecclesiastical  lawyer, 
Jerome  Schurf,  who  was  Luther's  adviser  at  the  Diet  of 
Worms,  and  since  1509  Henning  Goeden,  the  monarch  among 
the  jurists  of  his  time. 

The  department  of  Medicine  had  three  professorships. 
Its  first  dean  was  the  elector's  physician,  Martin  PoUich, 
who  had  performed  an  important  part  in  founding  this 
university.  The  elector  made  him  the  first  rector  of  the 
institution. 

The  department  of  Philosophy  was  comprised  of  the  fol- 
lowing ten  professorships :  Oratory,  Poetry,  Greek,  Hebrew 
and  other  Oriental  languages,  Logic  and  Metaphysics, 
Physics,  lower  and  higher  Mathematics,  Practical  Philosophy 
and  History.  Among  this  faculty  we  find  the  most  stimu- 
lating of  Luther's  Erfurt  professors,  the  scholastic  philoso- 
pher Jodocus  Trutvetter,  and  the  remaining  five  of  the 
twelve  prelates  of  the  chapter-house. 

The  different  departments  had  their  patron  saints,  whose 
days  were  celebrated  with  masses  in  the  Castle  Church.  In 
honor  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  the  true  patroness  of  the  studies, 
Saturday  was  free  from  the  duty  of  attending  lectures. 
Wittenberg  University  was  the  first  European  institution 
to  teach  the  three  ancient  languages:  Hebrew,  Greek,  and 
Latin,  The  first  professor  of  Greek  was  Melanchthon,  who 
arrived  in  Wittenberg  in  1518.  A  professor  of  Hebrew  was 
secured  from  Louvain  in   1519,  but  proved  unsatisfactory. 


WITTENBERG    IX   THE   DAYS    OF   LUTHER.  1G5 

and  liis  place  was  then  taken  by  Aurogallus,  who  became 
a  most  valuable  help  to  Luther  in  the  translation  of  the  Old 
Testament. 

The  buildings  necessary  to  carry  on  the  university  work 
were  erected  by  the  elector.  They  contained  lecture-halls 
and  lodging-rooms  for  the  students.  The  basement  of  tlie 
large  building  on  College  Street  (Kollegienstrasse)  was  given 
up  for  sports  and  purposes  of  recreation,  such  as  playing 
billiards,  chess,  etc.  The  price  asked  for  board  and  lodging 
was  very  reasonable,  and  students  were  assured  that  they 
could  get  along  with  eight  gulden  per  year.  One  gulden  at 
that  time  was  equal  to  21  groschen;  1  groschen  equaled 
9  pfennige;  1  pfennig  equaled  2  heller.  As  the  number  of 
students  increased,  many  found  lodging  with  the  families 
of  the  professors  and  other  citizens. 

From  the  year  1502  until  1507,  the  total  expense  of  the 
university  was  paid  by  the  elector.  But  the  project  proved 
too  expensive  for  the  resources  of  this  most  liberal  prince. 
After  its  return  from  Herzberg,  whither  it  had  removed 
during  the  plague  in  1506,  Frederick  placed  the  Castle  Church 
and  all  its  revenues  at  the  disposal  of  his  university,  thereby 
assuring  it  a  regular  income  of  money,  meat,  hay,  grain, 
poultry,  and  eggs. 

May  1,  1507,  the  cultured  and  refined  jurist,  Christopher 
Scheurl,  was  elected  rector  of  the  university.  His  ener- 
getic administration  contributed  much  toward  increasing 
the  number  of  students,  which  had  dwindled  from  416  in 
1502  to  112  in  1507.  He  was  a  strict  disciplinarian,  and 
insisted  on  faithful  study.  The  number  of  instructors  and 
lecturers  in  1507  rose  to  thirty-eight. 

The  elector  ruled  the  university  by  a  Board  of  Super- 
visors (Quatuor  Studii  Generalis  Reformatores),  consisting 
of  four  members  of  the  faculties.  They  were  responsible 
to  the  elector.  The  deans  of  the  different  faculties  were 
responsible  to  this  board  for  the  promptness  and  efficiency 
of  the  teachers  in  their  departments. 

The  citizens  of  Wittenberg  took  great  pride  in  this 
institution   of   learning,   so   unexpectedly   placed   into   their 


\QQ  WITTEXBEEG   IX    THE   DAYS    OF   LUTHER. 

town,  and  showed  their  loyalty  by  sending  to  the  opening 
term,  October  18,  1502,  more  than  forty  students  from  their 
town,  the  monks  not  included.  No  doubt,  they  made  a  con- 
certed effort  and  sent  some  who  vrere  not  prepared  to  enter 
such  a  school  of  advanced  learning;  but  they  sent  them  and 
helped  swell  the  list  of  immatriculations.  Even  in  1507, 
when  Scheurl  was  rector,  the  university  had  upon  its  list 
five  Wittenberg  boys  under  fourteen  years  of  age.  The  first 
rector,  Martin  Pollich,  owner  of  the  "Apdtheke,"  i.  e.,  the 
drug  and  general  merchandise  store  of  the  town,  was  a  citizen 
of  Wittenberg.  He  was  succeeded  by  tvro  other  citizens: 
Bartholomew^  Kranapoll,  who  was  rector  during  the  second 
semester,  and  his  brother  John,  who  held  this  office  during 
the  third  semester.  The  rector  of  the  university  was  elected 
every  six  months,,  on  the  first  of  May  and  on  the  eighteenth 
of  October.  A  number  of  Wittenberg  professors  married 
the  daughters  of  Wittenberg  families,  e.  g.,  Melanchthon, 
Augustine  Schurif,  and  Sebald  Muensterer,  the  latter  of 
whom  married  a  sister  of  Jerome  Ivrappe,  a  tailor,  and 
from  1524  to  1526  burgomaster  of  the  town. 

With  but  one  exception,  in  July,  1520,  there  were  no 
misunderstandings  between  citizens  and  students  during 
Luther's  time.  Boys  will  be  boys,  even  if  they  understand 
Greek  to  a  certain  depth  and  Hebrew  to  a  certain  speed. 
Individual  citizens  were  at  times  annoyed  by  petty  tricks 
and  boisterous  behavior  of  some  of  the  students,  but  in 
general  there  existed  an  all-around  good  feeling.  The  small 
town  offered  too  little  diversion  for  the  boys  to  disport  them- 
selves as  at  other  institutions  in  larger  cities,  and  the  uni- 
versity insisted  upon  good  behavior  and  earnest  work. 
Hazing  was,  nevertheless,  carried  on,  and  the  students, 
according  to  a  custom  of  that  time,  carried  weapons.  This 
proved  fatal  in  1512,  when  Eector  Erbar  was  assassinated  by 
a  drunken  student,  Balthasar.  This  unfortunate  young  man 
was  captured,  and  publicly  executed  on  the  market-place 
in   Wittenberg. 

Luther's  residence  in  Wittenberg  was  the  Augustinian 
cloister,  near  the  Elster  Gate.     The  Augustinians  are  said 


WITTEXr.ERG    IX    THE   DAYS    OF    LUTHER.  167 

to  have  had  a  convent  in  Wittenberg  since  1365.  Their 
buildings,  however,  had  become  so  time-worn  that  Frederick, 
who  expected  to  obtain  many  of  his  professors  from  the 
inmates  of  this  cloister,  resolved  to  renew  them,  and  be:^an 
with  rebuilding  th(^  dormitory,  which  was  finished  by  1504. 
This  "Black  Cloister,"  as  it  was  called  by  the  inhabitants 
of  Wittenberg,  was  a  handsome  three-story  and  attic  brick 
building,  with  ample  room  to  accommodate  as  many  as  forty 
monks  at  one  time.  It  was  on  the  main  thoroughfare,  named 
College  Street,  from  which  it  was  separated  by  a  lawn,  the 
former  cemetery  of  the  monks.  This  lawn  was  enclosed  by 
a  brick  wall,  and  contained  a  number  of  trees,  among  these 
the  famous  ])ear-tree,  under  which  Luther  pleaded  with 
Staupitz  to  be  excused  from  the  promotion  to  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Theology  and  its  responsibilities.  The  chapel  of 
the  monastery  was  torn  down  in  1542,  and  its  material  used 
for  the  strengthening  of  the  city  walls. 

When  the  former  monks  had  all  renounced  monasticism 
and  left,  the  elector  made  Luther  a  present  of  the  building, 
including  the  court  in  front  and  the  gardens  in  the  rear. 
This  gift  was  legally  confirmed  by  Frederick's  brother  and 
successor,  John,  in  1526.  Luther  undertook  extensive  altera- 
tions to  adapt  the  building  to  his  convenience,  including  the 
equipment  of  a  bathroom  with  tubs.  Wittenberg,  in  Luther's 
time,  had  many  public  and  private  baths,  for  the  people 
preferred  warm  to  cold  baths.  Swimming  in  the  near-b.y 
Elbe  was  discouraged  and  forbidden. 

Luther's  house  was  the  center  of  very  active  social  life, 
and  at  times  very  unrestful.  Colleagues  and  neighbors  were 
frequently  with  him.  Out-of-town  guests  were  numerous, 
and  his  hospitality  to  all  comers  was  generous  and  abundant. 
Luther's  household  expenses  were  very  great.  Llis  almost 
reckless  hospitality  would  have  bankrupted  him,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  enormous  energy  and  ceaseless  activity  of  his 
wife.  She  was  an  early  riser,  and,  like  other  women  of  her 
time,  cultivated  her  fields,  raised  vegetables,  kept  cattle, 
swine,  and  fowl,  brewed  beer,  and  had  her  own  fish-pond. 
For  these  things  Luther  had  neither  time,  aptitude,  nor 
inclination. 


168  WITTENBERG   IN   THE   DAYS    OF   LUTHER. 

When  the  Black  Cloister  was  erected,  the  old  hospital, 
which  formerly  occupied  this  site,  was  torn  down.  In  1516, 
the  city  erected  a  new  hospital,  just  outside  the  Elster  Gate. 
It  was  near  this  hospital  that  Luther,  on  December  10,  1520, 
broke  permanently  with  the  Eoman  Church,  and  gave  dra- 
matic expression  to  his  renunciation  of  the  pope's  authority 
by  publicly  burning  the  Canon  Law,  and  the  bull  of  excom- 
munication  issued   against   him. 

Outside  the  Elster  Gate  was  the  cemetery,  more  than  two 
hundred  years  old  at  the  time  when  Luther's  daughter  Eliza- 
beth was  there  put  to  rest. 

Besides  the  Augustinians,  the  Franciscans  had  a  monas- 
tery and  a  chapel  in  AVittenberg.  Though  very  old  and  rather 
dilapidated,  it  served  such  professors  at  the  university  as 
belonged  to  this  order  as  a  home.  When  the  monks  had  all 
left,  Luther  asked  the  Elector  John,  in  1527,  to  use  the 
buildings  as  a  hospice  for  the  poor  and  suffering.  In  1544, 
the  elector  turned  the  convent  church  into  a  granary,  but 
the  cloister  remained  a  home  for  the  poor.  This  convent 
stood  in  the  Juristenstrasse.  It  was  destroyed  by  fire  during 
the  Seven  Years'  War,  and  was  never  rebuilt. 

Luther's  colleague  Melanchthon  also  owned  his  own  house 
on  College  Street,  which  is  preserved  in  its  original  form. 
It  was  assessed  at  one  hundred  gulden.  His  taxes  amounted 
to  seven  groschen  and  six  pfennige.  Luther's  tailor,  Kunz 
Xrug,  paid  the  same  amount  of  taxes.  Melanchthon  and 
Luther  received  an  unusually  large  salary  for  university 
professors  of  the  day,  but  their  unbounded  and  often  abused 
hospitality  kept  them  in  pinching  circumstances  the  greater 
part  of  their  lives.  Their  families  were  on  most  intimate 
terms,  and  Melanchthon  not  only  immensely  enhanced  the 
fame  of  the  university,  but  also  proved  himself  a  most  effi- 
cient aid  to  Luther  and  his  great  work.  Melanchthon  did 
more  than  any  other  man  to  reform  the  educational  system 
of  the  country. 

By  urgent  request  of  the  town  council  of  Wittenberg, 
Luther  became  an  assistant  in  the  parish  church  in  1514. 
Nicolaus  Eabri  de  Grueneberg  was  parish  priest  from  1508 


WITTENBERG    IN    THE   DAYS    OF   LUTHER.  169 

to  1515.  He  was  followed  by  Simon  Heinsius,  who  remained 
until  1523,  and  then  came  John  Bugenhagen,  whose  services 
became  most  valuable  in  the  sphere  of  church  organization. 

This  parish  or  city  church  stood  in  the  middle  of  the 
town,  and  is  still  a  conspicuous  landmark.  It  was  dedicated 
to  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  its  oldest  portions  date  back  to 
the  year  1300.  The  edifice,  surmounted  by  double  towers, 
is  large  and  massive,  but  without  any  architectural  pre- 
tensions. It  was  incorporated  with  the  Castle  Church  in 
1507.  The  interior  is  commodious  and  well  adapted  to 
Lutheran  worship,  which  was  instituted  there  in  1522.  Its 
large  bell  weighs  more  than  five  tons  and  was  cast  in  1499. 
ISTear  the  altar  is  the  memorial  tablet  of  Rector  Erbar,  who 
was  murdered  by  a  student. 

As  preacher  of  St.  Mary's  Church  Luther  soon  became 
the  most  powerful  influence  for  righteousness  in  the  city. 
He  knew  something  of  the  shams  and  falsities  that  pre- 
vailed, and  fearlessly  assailed  them  in  his  lectures  and 
sermons.  The  moral  condition  of  the  city  also  left  much  to 
be  desired.  The  citizens  had  not  yet  adjusted  themselves 
to  the  new  situation  arising  from  the  presence  of  hundreds 
of  young  and  often  unruly  men  in  the  formerly  so  quiet 
little  place,  and  found  themselves  helpless  before  the  growing 
demoralization.  Luther  soon  became  familiar  with  existing 
conditions,  and  called  upon  the  university  and  city  authori- 
ties to  take  the  matter  actively  in  hand.  He  preached 
against  astrology,  witchcraft,  saint-worship,  religious  pil- 
grimages, omens,  signs,  and  charms,  the  ])ou]ar  beliefs  of 
his  time  and  town,  and  thereby  brought  about  a  great  im- 
provement. What  at  first  was  only  a  temporary  expedient 
became  a  fixed  arrangement,  when,  in  1515,  he  received  from 
the  town  council  a  regular  call  to  supply  appointments  in 
the  church  to  all  who  were  otherwise  unprovided  for.  His 
sermons  were  preached  in  the  German  language.  For  this 
parish  work  he  received  no  compensation,  but  the  city  council 
often  sent  presents  of  food  and  clothing  to  the  busy  pro- 
fessor's home. 

Next  to   St.   Mary's   Church  stood  the  parsonage.     The 


170  WITTE^'BERG    IX    THE    DAYS    OF   LUTHER. 

building,  however,  was  so  poor  that  Bugenhagen,  who  became 
pastor  of  the  Stadtkirche  in  1523,  bought  a  house  of  his 
own  in  the  Neustrasse,  and  probably  lived  there  the  greater 
part  of  his  life.  The  parsonage  was  repaired  in  1605,  and 
renewed  in  1731,  and  is  now  called  Bugenhagen-House  after 
this  first  Lutheran  pastor  of  the  city  church. 

Christian  Doerink,  the  goldsmith  of  the  town  and  father- 
in-law  of  Luther's  colleague,  the  noted  jurist  Schneidewein, 
was  treasurer  of  the  parish  church,  and  paid  Bugenhagen's 
salary  semiannually.  The  salary  was  two  hundred  gulden 
per  year  in  money,  presents  from  the  city  council,  and 
refreshments  from  the  Ratskeller  under  the  City  Hall.  It 
was  this  Christian  Doerink  who  supplied  the  new  wagon  and 
the  three  horses  that  brought  Luther  to  Worms  and  back  to 
Eisenach,  receiving  payment  for  wagon  and  horses  for  seven 
wrecks  from  the  city  treasurer  at  Wittenberg.  At  the  shop 
of  this  goldsmith  Luther,  Melanchthon,  and  other  professors 
pawned  their  silver  and  gold  cups  when  in  urgent  need  of 
ready  money. 

Adjoining  the  city  church  was  the  parish  cemetery,  and 
in  it  the  chapel  of  Corpus  Christi,  founded  about  1377  and 
richly  endowed. 

A  short  distance  from  the  city  church  is  the  Market 
Square  with  its  many  booths,  public  scale,  and  the  City  Hall. 
This  City  LEall  had  also  become  so  time-worn  that  it  was 
replaced  during  Luther's  time  by  a  new  one.  The  new  build- 
ing was  begun  in  1523  and  completed  in  1540.  The  city 
council  consisted  of  three  distinct  groups  of  councilors,  each 
group  changing  about  every  three  years.  Thus  there  were 
three  burgomasters  (Magistri  Civhim;  Magistri  Consulum), 
three  judges  (Judices  Civitatis),  and  three  divisions  of 
councilmen  of  six  in  each  group.  Among  the  many  j^rivi- 
leges  enjoyed  by  these  councilmen  was  their  annual  feast 
at  the  expense  of  the  city,  and  the  permission  to  have 
a  larger  number  of  guests  at  a  wedding.  A  burgomaster  was 
permitted  to  invite  seven  tables  of  guests,  councilmen  were 
allowed  six  tables,  whilst   the   connnon   people  had   to   cele- 


WITTENBERG   IN   THE   DAYS   OF   LUTHER.  171 

brate  with  less  than  five  tables  of  guests,  and  were  not  per- 
mitted to  serve  more  than  three  meals  at  any  one  occasion. 

Wittenberg  had  several  very  important  guilds:  associa- 
tions of  bakers,  butchers,  tailors,  shoemakers,  and  tanners. 
They  took  a  very  important  and  active  part  in  the  political, 
religious,  and  social  life  of  the  city.  Each  guild  had  its  own 
saint  and  an  altar  in  the  parish  church,  upon  which  candles 
were  lighted,  and  where  prayers  were  read  for  the  souls  of 
their  departed  members.  They  had  their  own  plots  in  the 
cemeteries  and  their  own  priests.  Every  member  was  com- 
pelled to  attend  the  funeral  services  of  their  departed  asso- 
ciates, either  in  person  or  represented  by  their  wives.  Failure 
to  be  present  or  represented  meant  a  fine  of  six  pfennigs. 
The  dues  in  these  guilds  amounted  to  the  income  of  three 
days  per  year  per  member.  These  guilds  proved  a  great 
obstacle  to  the  Reformation. 

Before  leaving  the  ]\rarket  Square,  it  might  be  stated 
that  all  executions  took  place  in  this  busiest  center  of  the 
city;  that  the  prison  was  a  i)lace  to  keep  out  of,  not  a  place 
to  live  in;  and  that  the  law  in  vogue  was  "Der  Sachsen- 
spiegel,"  which  was  publicly  read  once  a  year. 

The  largest  and  best-furnished  private  dwelling  in  Wit- 
tenberg at  Luther's  time  was  the  Cranach  House,  commonly 
called  the  "Apotheke."  Lucas,  the  painter,  came  to  Witten- 
berg to  fill  the  position  of  court-painter.  From  his  brush 
we  have  many  portraits  of  some  of  the  leading  notables  of 
the  day,  among  these  Luther  and  his  parents.  He  had  many 
assistants,  for  the  princes  often  needed  a  large  number  of 
small  paintings  of  themselves  to  distribute  among  friends. 
Besides  being  an  artist,  he  was  also  a  prosi)erous  business 
man.  In  1520,  he  bought  from  Pollich's  (1513)  successor. 
Dr.  ^fartinus  Josagk,  the  "Apotheke,"  the  only  drug  store 
in  Wittenberg  for  more  than  three  hundred  years.  With 
this  "Apotheke"  went  the  privilege  to  sell  spices,  merchandise, 
and  also  sweet  wine,  if  such  could  not  be  obtained  at  the 
Ratskeller  under  the  City  ITall.  Cranach,  as  he  was  com- 
monly called,  was  also  part-owner  in  a  printing  establishment, 
and  became  the  richest  citizen  in  Wittenberg,  paying  taxes 


172  WITTENBERG   IX   THE   DAYS    OF    LUTHER. 

upon  property  valued  at  more  than  four  thousand  gulden. 
Slowly,  but  surely,  he  became  Luther's  friend  and  ardent 
disciple.  With  him  and  his  family  Luther  enjoyed  the  closest 
friendship  as  long  as  he  lived,  and  the  stately  home  of  the 
prosperous  artist  was  one  of  his  favorite  resorts. 

Adjoining  the  Cranach  House  was  an  old  inn,  the  "Black 
Eear,"  where  Luther  dined  when  he  was  recalled  by  the 
city  council  from  the  Wartburg.  Luther,  owning  no  money 
at  that  time,  had  the  fare  charged.  The  bill,  amounting  to 
forty-two  groschen,  was  paid  by  the  city  council  in  1525. 

Besides  Cranach,  Wittenberg  had  other  printers.  To 
reach  the  public  ear,  Luther  made  effective  use  of  brief 
pamphlets,  becoming,  in  a  short  time,  the  most  active  and 
influential  pamphleteer  in  Germany.  Desiring  to  have  his 
books  and  pamphlets  sold  as  cheaply  as  possible,  Luther 
refused  to  take  money  for  his  manuscripts,  though  more 
than  one  publisher  made  a  fortune  out  of  them.  Among  the 
various  printers  in  Wittenberg  we  may  mention  Johann 
Grueneberg,  a  neighbor  of  the  Reformer,  who  printed  his 
^'Romans"  in  1515 ;  Melchior  Lother,  who  came  from  Basel 
and  brought  Greek  letters;  and  Hans  Lufft,  several  times 
burgomaster.  He  printed  the  first  complete  German  Bible 
in  1534. 

Another  center  of  the  religious  life  of  Wittenberg  was 
the  Castle  Church.  This  building,  which  made  Wittenberg 
world-renowned,  was  erected  in  1449,  and  became  a  point 
from  which  the  neighboring  village  churches  were  supplied 
with  priests,  a  work  that  had  necessitated  the  founding  of 
a  chapter-house  for  the  accommodation  of  the  clergy.  This 
church  was  dedicated  to  the  Virgin  Mary  and  All  Saints, 
and  was  a  favorite  place  of  pilgrimage.  Large  indulgence 
was  to  be  gained  from  the  sight  of  its  holj^  treasures  and 
from  contributions  to  its  support.  It  had  nineteen  altars. 
Its  door  served  as  the  "blackboard"  for  the  university  an- 
nouncements. Henning  Goeden  was  priest  at  this  church. 
He  was  succeeded  in  1521  by  Justus  Jonas,  who  remained 
until  1541,  and  was  then  followed  by  Caspar  Cruciger. 
Adjoining  the  church  was  the  castle,  erected  by  Frederick 


LUTHER    AND    HIS    FRIENDS.  173 

during  the  years  1493  to  1499.  It  was  a  beautiful  building, 
constructed  from  the  material  taken  from  the  old  fortress 
and  the  ruined  castle  of  Zahna.  Fretlerick  was  a  wise, 
judicious,  and  capable  ruler  and  a  pious  and  God-feflring 
prince.  He  thought  very  highly  of  Luther,  and  showed  him 
many  marks  of  favor,  but,  near  as  was  his  palace  to  the 
monastery,  he  never  met  Luther.  At  first  there  was  no  reason 
for  summoning  the  meek  monk  to  the  castle,  and  after  Luther 
had  gained  world-wide  prominence,  the  elector's  native  pru- 
dence kept  him  from  identifying  himself  too  intimately  with 
the  Keformer's  affairs.  The  discreet  and  peace-loving  Elector 
Frederick  usually  resided  in  Altenburg,  Torgau,  or  at  Castle 
Lochau. 

At  the  castle  in  Wittenberg  the  famous  meeting  of  Luther 
and  the  papal  legate  Cardinal  Vergerius  took  place.  Ver- 
gerius  had  come  to  "that  sink  of  heresy"  in  November,  1535, 
and  invited  the  banned  and  outlawed  Luther  to  breakfast 
with  him. 

The  light  which  came  from  Wittenberg  diffused  itself 
through  the  whole  world.  Luther's  work  in  this  insignificant 
town  was  the  commencement  of  a  new  era  in  the  history  of 
the  human  mind,  and  its  beneficial  influence  has  been  felt 
in  every  branch  of  learning,  in  every  department  of  science, 
and  in  every  institution  of  civil  society. 


Luther  and  His  Friends. 

Prof.  W.  :\Iol,l.  Concordia  College,  Fort  Wayne,  Tnd. 

Every  great  world-movement  centers  about  one  person 
who,  as  it  were,  gathers  in  himself  the  aspirations,  hopes, 
and  yearnings  of  his  time,  and,  heroically  struggling  for- 
ward, brings  about  the  realization  of  these  hopes  and  as])ira- 
tions.  While  he  is,  in  a  sense,  a  part  of  the  great  tiflal 
wave  which  bears  him  and  his  age  along,  he  rises  above  the 
flood,  guides  it,  directs  it,  and  endows  the  whole  movement 
with  the  stamp  of  his  individuality.  Other  men  are  drawn 
toward  him,  are  carried  away  by  his  spirit,  and  become  part 


174  LUTHER    AXD    HIS    FRIEXDS, 

of  the  movement.  They,  in  turn,  become  active  agents 
moving  others;  but  they  are  not  original,  independent 
forces;  they  have  their  power  only  in  virtue  of  their  associa- 
tion with  the  master  mind.  "They,"  to  use  a  figure  of 
Taine's,  "constitute  the  chorus,  the  master  mind  is  the 
leading  man.  They  sing  the  same  piece  together,  and  at 
times  the  chorist  is  equal  to  the  solo  artist,  but  only  at  times.'' 

Thus  in  the  great  revolutionary  movement  that  made 
an  end  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  its  whole  cultural  system, 
the  great  master  mind,  the  genius,  the  originator,  is  Luther; 
his  friends  and  coworkers  were  merely  followers,  satellites, 
in  a  spiritual  sense,  the  children  of  his  loins. 

'Tis  true,  many,  perhaps  most  of  his  ideas  had  been 
expressed  by  others  before  him.  Many  a  pious  soul  had  seen 
the  abuses  in  the  medieval  Church.  Great  men  had  risen 
against  the  tyranny  of  Rome,  and  had  accomplished  great 
things.  But  they  all  had  remained  within  the  bounds  of 
the  cultural  and  religious  system  of  the  Middle  Ages  and 
its  characteristic  mode  of  thought.  Luther,  however,  at 
the  decisive  points  broke  through  the  iron  ring  of  tradition 
and  prejudice  which  had  bounded  the  mental  horizon  of 
men  in  the  Middle  Ages,  and  he  thereby  ushered  in  the 
Modern   Era. 

Xow,  Luther  did  not  do  this  unaided.  He  attracted 
a  great  number  of  highly  gifted  men  to  his  cause,  who 
rendered  valiant  service  and  invaluable  aid.  But  these  men 
were  not  originators,  were  not  geniuses,  were  not  master 
minds,  but  mere  day-laborers  in  the  great  cause.  They  did 
Luther's  work,  under  Luther's  guidance.  Filled  with  Luther's 
spirit,  they  carried  out  Luther's  ideas.  And  whatever  has 
had  lasting  value  in  their  work  was  done  in  Luther's  spirit; 
whatever  was  not  done  in  Luther's  spirit  proved,  in  the  end, 
to  be  without  value,  aye,  detrimental  to  the  cause. 

Such  men  were  Philip  Schwarzerd,  John  Brenz,  John 
Bugenhagen,  Justus  Jonas,  and  George  Burkhardt,  or  Spa- 
latinus. 

By  far  the  foremost  and  greatest  among  these  is  Philip 
Schwarzerd,  whose  German  name  was  Grecized  Melanchthon. 


LUTHER    AND    HIS    FRIENDS.  175 

He  was  born  in  the  snuiU  Swabian  town  of  Bretten.  His 
father  was  a  man  of  wealth,  and  his  mother  was  a  niece  of 
the  famous  Humanist  lleuchlin,  who  took  a  liking  to  the 
ambitious  lad,  and  supervised  his  education.  Young  Philip, 
therefore,  received  an  excellent  education.  His  first  teacher 
was  a  private  tutor,  reconmiended  by  lleuchlin.  After  a  few 
years  of  training  under  this  most  able,  though,  according 
to  modern  educational  ideas,  almost  brutally  severe  master, 
lie  attended  the  Latin  school  at  Pforzheim,  where  he  was 
taught  the  most  advanced  humanistic  learning  of  his  time. 
At  the  early  age  of  fifteen  he  received  the  degree  of  Artium 
Baccalaureus  at  the  University  of  Heidelberg.  Coming  up 
for  the  master's  degree,  however,  in  the  following  year,  his 
application  was  denied  "because  of  his  youth  and  boyish 
appearance."  He  thereupon  left  Heidelberg  and  matricu- 
lated at  Tuebingen,  where,  on  the  twenty-fifth  day  of 
Januarj%  1514,  he  received  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts. 
During  the  next  few  years  his  fame  as  a  classical  scholar 
spread  throughout  Germany,  and  in  1518,  on  the  recom- 
mendation of  Reuchlin,  he  was  called  as  professor  of  Greek 
to  the  newly  founded  University  of  Wittenberg. 

From  that  day  to  the  end  of  his  life  he  was  closely 
associated  with  the  great  work  of  the  Reformation  of  the 
Church,  which  Luther  had  begun  on  that  memorable  thirty- 
first  of  October  of  the  previous  year. 

Luther  at  once  formed  a  correct  estimate  of  Melanch- 
thon's  ability.  He  wrote  to  Spalatin  (De  Wette,  Luthers 
Brief e,  1,  134.  135)  :  "As  regards  our  Philip  Melanchthon, 
everything  shall  be  done  as  you  suggest.  On  the  fourth  day 
after  his  arrival  he  delivered  a  most  learned  and  chaste 
oration  to  the  delight  and  admiration  of  all.  It  is  now  not 
necessary  for  you  to  commend  him.  We  quickly  retracted 
the  opinion  we  had  formed  of  him  when  we  first  saw  him. 
Now  we  laud  and  admire  the  reality  in  him,  and  thank  the 
most  illustrious  Prince  and  your  kindness.  Be  at  pains  to 
commend  him  most  heartily  to  the  Prince.  I  desire  no  other 
Greek  teacher  so  long  as  we  have  him." 

And  Luther  was  not  disappointed  in  Melanchthon.   Philip 


176  LUTHER    AXD    HIS    FRIENDS. 

was  all  that  Lutlier  expected  of  him,  and  more.  Luther  him- 
self had  f  omid  the  Truth  by  studying  the  Bible  in  the  original 
tongues,  and  he  had  lectured  on  several  books  of  the  Old 
as  well  as  of  the  New  Testament ;  but  he  was  not  professedly 
a  technical  Greek  scholar,  though  his  knowledge  of  Greek 
was  by  no  means  small.  In  Melanchthon,  however,  the 
university  now  had  a  Grecian  of  the  Grecians.  And  all  of 
his  knowledge  of  Greek  Melanchthon  employed  in  the  service 
of  theology.  By  applying  his  knowledge  of  Greek  to  the 
sacred  text  and  interpreting  it  to  the  theological  students, 
he  carried  out  Luther's  idea  that  all  sound  knowledge  of 
Scripture  and  of  all  sound  theology  must  be  based  upon 
a  thorough  study  of  the  sacred  text  in  the  original  tongue. 
He  thereby  soon  made  himself  indispensable  to  Luther,  who 
valued  him  highly  both  as  a  friend  and  as  a  scholar  of 
great  ability  and  learning.  Luther  said  of  him:  "Philip 
has  only  the  humble  title  of  Master,  but  he  excels  all  the 
Doctors.  There  is  no  one  living  adorned  with  such  gifts. 
He  must  be  held  in  honor.  Whoever  despises  this  man,  him 
God  will  despise."  (Corpus  Re  f  07- mat  or  um  10,  302.)  And 
in  his  Preface  to  Melanchthon's  Commentary  on  the  Epistle 
to  the  Colossians  he  wrote:  "I  am  rough,  boisterous,  stormy, 
and  altogether  warlike.  I  am  born  to  fight  innumerable 
monsters  and  devils.  I  must  remove  stumps  and  stones,  cut 
away  thistles  and  thorns,  and  clear  the  wild  forests;  but 
Master  Philip  comes  along  softly  and  gently,  sowing  and 
watering  with  joy,  according  to  the  gift  which  God  has 
abundantly  bestowed  upon  him." 

In  these  words  and  in  many  others  Luther  expressed  his 
high  opinion  of  Melanchthon's  scholarship  and  his  just 
appreciation  of  Melanchthon's  peculiar  gifts  and  abilities. 
He  realized  that  the  shy,  timid,  retiring  scholar  was,  to 
a  certain  extent,  a  necessary  complement  to  himself  and  his 
robust,  aggressive  nature. 

Melanchthon,  in  turn,  held  Luther,  who  had  shown  him 
the  way  of  truth  and  life,  in  reverence  as  a  spiritual  father, 
lie,  at  the  beginning  at  least,  realized  that  Luther  was  the 
head,  he  but  a  hand;    that  Luther  was  the  leader,  he  but 


LUTHER    AND    HIS    FRIENDS,  177 

a  humble  follower;  that  lAither  was  the  teacher,  he  but 
a  pupil.  In  this  spirit  he  labored  together  with  Luther, 
and  through  his  labors  furthered  Luther's  great  work  more 
than  all  other  followers  of  Luther  put  togetlier.  Ever  since 
the  Leipzig  Disputation  of  1519,  which  might  be  called 
a  turning-point  of  his  life,  he  actively  participated  in  the 
work  of  the  Reformation.  At  Leipzig  his  faith  in  the 
authority  of  the  existing  Church  was  completely  shaken, 
and  his  studies  tlienceforth  took  a  more  decidedly  theological 
direction. 

And  the  service  he  rendered  the  cause  was  great  indeed. 
Being  violently  attacked  by  Eck  for  having  ventured  to 
express  an  opinion  on  the  disputants,  he  replied  in  an  open 
letter,  in  which  he  defended  the  positions  of  Carlstadt  and 
Luther,  particularly  the  opinions  expressed  by  Luther  for 
the  first  time  in  the  course  of  the  Leipzig  Disputation;  to 
wit,  his  opinions  concerning  the  primacy  of  the  Roman  see, 
and  the  view  that  the  Fathers  of  the  Church  had  erred,  and 
must  not  be  employed  in  judging  Scripture.  This  letter 
showed  Melanchthon  to  be  fully  conversant  with  the  questions 
at  issue,  and  to  be  a  master  of  keen,  trenchant  logic.  And 
ever  since  then  his  pen  never  rested  in  the  cause  of  the 
Reformation. 

lie  wrote  the  first  systematic  presentation  of  Lutheran 
doctrine  in  his  Loci  Cotnmunes;  he  was  the  author  of  the 
Augsburg  Confession  and  of  the  Apology  thereof;  he  took 
part  in  all  tlie  great  colloquies  of  the  day,  both  with  the 
Zwinglians  and  with  the  papists,  and  at  Worms  and  Regens- 
burg  he  conducted  the  disputations  with  the  Romanists 
almost  single-handed. 

He  has  received  most  praise,  however,  for  the  way  in 
which  he  carried  out  Luther's  ideas  on  popular  and  higher 
education  as  laid  down  in  his  famous  Appeal  to  the  Aldermen 
of  All  the  German  Cities  in  Behalf  of  Christian  Schools. 
He  did  this  with  such  wisdom  and  good  judgment  that  he 
has  justly  been  called  the  Teacher  of  Germany  (Praeceptor 
Germaniae).  The  development  and  iutolligont  application 
of  Luther's  principles  gave  to  Protestant  Germany  the  intel- 

Four  Hundred  Years.  12 


178  LUTHER    AXD    HIS    FRIENDS. 

lectual  and  spiritual  preeminence  which  has  been  hers  for 
the  last  four  hundred  years,  and  to  which  has  been  added, 
within  the  last  century,  preeminence  in  every  other  field  of 
human  endeavor  —  political,  economic,  military,  and  moral. 

The  new  thing  in  Melanchthon's  scheme  of  higher  edu- 
cation w^as  the  utilization  of  humanistic  learning  for  the 
purposes  of  Lutheran  thought  and  education.  Classical 
learning  was  fused  with  Lutheranism,  so  to  speak,  and 
gave  to  the  gymnasia  and  universities  of  Germany  their 
distinctive  character.  And  the  courses  of  study  prescribed 
by  Melanchthon  for  the  higher  schools  remained  unaltered 
in  the  main  until  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
when  the  progress  of  learning  and  the  changed  conditions 
of  modern   life   made  changes   in   the   curricula   imperative. 

It  has  become  customary  of  late  in  certain  quarters  to 
exalt  Melanchthon  at  the  expense  of  Luther.  Said  a  recent 
biographer  of  Melanchthon:  "Without  Melanchthon  the 
nailing  of  the  Ninety-five  Theses  had  ended  in  a  monkish 
squabble,  to  be  followed,  perhaps,  by  a  new  school  of  theology 
in  the  old  Church."  Such  a  view  of  the  relative  importance 
of  the  work  and  genius  of  the  two  men  seems  to  us  utterly 
at  variance  with  a  correct  appreciation  of  the  facts  in  the 
case,  as  well  as  with  the  judgment  of  Melanchthon  himself 
as  shown  by  his  conduct.  Melanchthon's  was  a  highly  gifted 
nature,  endowed  with  a  good  memory,  the  power  of  clear, 
systematic  presentation  and  great  dialectic  skill,  to  which 
was  added  great  humanistic  learning;  but  Melanchthon  was 
not  a  mind  possessed  of  sufiicient  robustness  to  work  his  way 
through  the  inherited  traditional  view  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
nor  would  his  soul  have  been  courageous  enough  to  maintain 
the  truth  against  the  power  of  the  Roman  curia.  Luther, 
however,  was  a  man  of  a  different  mold.  His  was  the 
colossal  intellect  that  had  won  inward  freedom  from  the 
system  that  held  the  mightiest  intellects  of  the  Middle  Ages 
in  hopeless  thraldom,  and  his,  also,  was  the  undaunted 
courage  that  said  at  Worms :  "Here  I  stand.  I  cannot  do 
otherwise.  God  help  me!  Amen."  Nay,  if  need  be,  such 
a  mind  could  well  dispense  with  a  mind  like  Melanchthon's. 


LUTHER    AXD   HIS   FRIENDS.  179 

There  are  two  points  in  which  Luther's  inferiority  to 
Melanchthon  and  his  dejDendence  upon  him  are  especially 
stressed  —  philology  and  systematic  presentation  of  doctrine. 
Let  us  look  at  these  contentions  somewhat   more  narrowly. 

Luther  possessed  genuine  i)hilological  ability  of  the  highest 
order  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  term.  He  was  a  genius, 
a  master  of  the  craft,  as  is  shown  by  his  sureness  of  critical 
judgment  in  declaring,  "for  linguistic  and  internal  reasons, 
as  spurious  five  treatises  which  had  been  handed  down  under 
the  name  of  Augustine.  Later  investigation  has  completely 
confirmed  his  judgment.  Equally  apt  and  surprising  are 
his  famous  remarks  about  the  style,  provenance,  and  historical 
value  of  the  Biblical  books.  Though  he,  in  this  respect, 
followed,  in  the  main,  the  verdict  of  the  great  scholars  of 
the  ancient  Church,  Eusebius  of  Caesarea  and  Jerome,  he 
added  a  mass  of  striking  observations  and  acute  suppositions 
of  his  own.  What  is  most  important,  he  at  once,  without 
lengthy  parley,  draws  from  the  critical  results  the  correct 
conclusions."  (Boehmer.)  With  this  compare  Melanchthon's 
philological  ability.  Pie  was  a  highly  gifted  man,  trained 
to  his  business,  with  a  mind  stored  with  varied  and  extensive 
learning  of  marvelous  accuracy,  but  not  a  master  of  the  craft. 

Again,  much  has  been  made  of  Melanchthon's  systema- 
tizing. Says  the  biographer  quoted  above:  "Melanchthon 
laid  the  foundation  of  the  dogmatic  system  of  Protestant 
theology,  and  wrote  the  first  confession  of  the  Protestant 
Church.  Their  [i.  e.,  Luther's  and  Melanchthon's]  combined 
labors  brought  into  existence  the  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Church."  The  statement  is  perfectly  correct.  Only  we 
should  like  to  see  more  stress  laid  on  Luther  and  le^s  on 
Melanchthon.  'Tis  true,  saj's  Boehmer,  it  was  not  Luther, 
but  Melanchthon  "who  first  undertook  the  obvious  task  of 
briefly  summarizing  the  basic  ideas  of  the  Evangelical  mes- 
sage. Considering  that  it  is  the  first  attempt  of  its  kind, 
this  survey  is  unquestionably  a  splendid  achievement.  Never- 
theless the  systematists  find  in  it  much,  indeed  very  much, 
tliat  is  faulty.  To  Luther,  however,  it  seemed  wholly  ade- 
quate;   indeed,  it  was  in  liis  eyes  an  unsurpassable,  classic. 


ISO  LUTHER   AND    HIS    FRIENDS. 

canonic  achievement,  transcending  all  his  own  works  in 
value  and  usefulness  for  the  public.  This  is  proof  sufficient 
that  his  demands  in  this  respect  were  not  very  exacting.  .  .  . 
Undoubtedly  this  [Luther's]  enormous  facility  in  the  pro- 
duction of  ideas  is  most  intimately  related  to  his  lack  of 
system.  The  energetic  endeavor  to  construct  a  close'y  knit 
organized  whole  naturally  puts  a  decided  check  on  the 
inclination  to  give  room  to  new  ideas  and  hence  also  on 
the  ability  to  produce  new  ideas;  in  fact,  it  gradually  kills 
this  faculty,  while,  in  the  opposite  case,  the  mind  remains 
fresh  for  new  concepts,  and  always  can  give  itself  up  without 
restraint  to  the  impulse  of  forming  new  ideas.  We  con- 
sequently do  not  claim  too  much  when  we  assert  that  the 
Reformer's  lack  of  system  is  a  necessary  outgrowth  of  his 
tremendous  intellectual  fertility,  and  to  that  extent  also 
a  necessary  prerequisite  of  his  world-historical  activity.  .  .  . 

"The  genuine  systematists  are  mostly  not  creative 
thinkers,  and  vice  versa,  creative  minds,  as  a  rule,  lack  the 
capacity  for  organization.  .  .  .  They  nlone  bring  forth  some- 
thing new,  release  new  forces,  and  found  new  institutions 
of  historical  life,  while  the  systematists  have  only  the  more 
modest  task  of  organizing  and  concentrating  the  new  ideas." 

Melanchthon,  then,  was  merely  a  systematizer,  a  codifier, 
if  you  wi]l,  of  the  great  Biblical  truths  which  Luther's 
massive,  undaunted  intellect,  thanks  to  the  gviidance  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  had  rediscovered  and  again  given  to  the  world. 
It  was  Luther  who  had  broken  through  the  whole  medieval 
view  of  life,  had  seen  the  truth  of  God,  had  proclaimed  it, 
and  victoriously  maintained  it  against  the  combined  attack 
of  pope,  emperor,  and  devil.  Melanchthon  was  merely  the 
underling  who,  according  to  the  measure  of  his  ability  kept 
the  master's  storehouse  in  order. 

At  this  point  there  rises  the  question  of  Melanchthon's 
faithfulness  in  the  work  he  was  doing.  This  is  a  vexed 
question,  and  only  a  long,  careful  study  of  the  original 
sources,  of  Melanchthon's  works,  and  of  reliable  contemporary 
testimony  can  enable  one  to  pronounce  an  opinion. 

This  much  is  established,  that  Melanchthon  did  not  agree 


LUTHER    AXD    HIS    FRIENDS.  181 

with  Luther  on  many  points  of  doctrine;  yet  he  formulated 
theses  of  Luther's  doctrine  for  others  to  accept.  He  publicly 
subscribed  to  tenets  he  did  not  hold.  This  is  true  particularly 
of  the  doctrine  of  the  Sacraments,  on  which  his  views  were 
of  such  a  nature  that  Calvin  called  him  a  dissembler  for 
his  failure  publicly  to  state  his  dissent  from  Luther's  views. 

Again,  even  in  the  earliest  edition  of  his  Loci,  as  well  as 
in  the  Augsburg-  Confession,  he  intentionally  omitted  a  defi- 
nite statement  on  Free  Will,  for  the  simple  reason,  as  it 
seems,  that  he  secretly  shared  Erasmus's  views  and  not 
Luther's.  He  has  won  a  great  deal  of  praise  for  these  omis- 
sions at  the  hands  of  such  as  would  bear  Luther's  name 
without  teaching  his  doctrine.  He  has  been  praised  by 
syncretists  generally,  and  especially  by  the  synergists  in 
the  Lutheran  Church,  who  believe  that  Luther's  view  of 
a  will  not  free  in  spiritual  matters  relieves  man  of  moral 
responsibility,  and  kills  all  initiative.  But  we,  as  Lutherans, 
cannot  but  deplore  ^lelanchthon's  lack  of  candor,  as  well  as 
his  inability  to  see  Divine  Truth,  while  as  men  of  thought  we 
rejoice  to  find  that  Luther's  and  not  Erasmus's  views  on  the 
will  are  in  accord  with  results  of  modern  psychological  in- 
vestigations of  this  deep  subject. 

That  Luther  never  objected  to  Melanchthon's  omission 
in  the  Loci  Communes  can  be  easily  accounted  for  by  the 
fact  that  Luther  considered  this  doctrine  too  difficult  for 
general  discussion ;  that  he  looked  upon  it  as  one  of  the  deep 
things  in  our  faith  —  a  doctrine  not  to  be  puzzled  over  or 
to  be  discussed  lightly,  but  to  be  reverently  stated  in  the 
simple  terms  of  Scripture,  and  to  be  accepted  in  simple  faith. 
The  matter,  however,  assumes  a  different  complexion  in 
a  later  edition  of  the  Loci,  where  Melanchthon  wrote:  "Cum 
promissio  sit  universalis,  nee  sint  in  Deo  contrariae  volun- 
tates,  necesse  est  in  nobis  esse  aliquam  discriminis  causam, 
cur  Saul  abjiciatur,  David  rccipiatur."  (Since  the  promise 
is  universal,  and  there  are  no  conflicting  wills  in  God,  there 
must  needs  be  some  cause  of  discrimination  in  us.)  "An 
argument,"  says  Prof.  A.  L.  Graebner  (Theol.  Quart.  I,  229), 
"in   which   ^Melanchthon   is   at   the   same   time    a    synergist 


182  LUTHER    AND    HIS    FRIEXDS. 

[position  of  the  Ohio  Synod]  with  his  in  nohis  and  a  ration- 
alist with  his  necesse  est."  Here  Melanchthon  in  so  many 
words  is  teaching  a  doctrine  at  variance  with  the  funda- 
mentals of  Luther's  teaching  —  and  of  Bible-teaching. 

If  we  bear  in  mind  Melanchthon's  timidity,  his  lack  of 
personal  courage,  and  his  desire  to  preserve  the  peace  with 
the  Romanists,  we  can  understand  many  things  in  his  con- 
duct, even  the  somewhat  ignoble  spirit  that  prompted  him 
to  minimize,  in  the  Augsburg  Confession,  the  differences 
with  Rome,  and  to  magnify  those  with  the  Zwingiians,  with 
whom  he  indeed  held  many  views  in  common  that  he  did 
not  share  with  Luther.  Bearing  his  personal  timidity  in 
mind,  we  can  perhaps  accept  the  plea  of  his  apologists,  that 
he  differed  from  Luther's  doctrine  only  in  matters  he  himself 
deemed  non-essential,  and  that,  in  his  concessions  to  Rome 
in  the  interimistic  conflicts,  he  honestly  believed  that  he 
had  saved  the  essentials  of  Lutheran  truth  by  yielding 
adiaphora.  Still,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  he  chafed  under 
the  restraint  imposed  upon  him  by  Luther's  personality, 
and  that  he  wrote  to  others  that  he  felt  like  a  slave  in  his 
relations  to  Luther,  we  cannot  but  deplore  the  fact  that 
Melanchthon  lacked  the  manliness  and  candor  openly  to  face 
Luther  and  arrive  at  an  understanding  with  him.  Lf 
Melanchthon  was  not  actually  dishonest  in  his  position  both 
before  and  after  Luther's  death,  he  was,  to  say  the  least, 
extremely  weak,  and  the  universal  mistrust  with  which 
Flacius,  Amsdorf,  and  others  looked  upon  him  was  caused 
by  his  lack  of  candor  and  consistency. 

.  And,  lastly,  Melanchthon's  letter  to  Camerarius,  when  he 
was  first  apprised  of  Luther's  marriage,  shows  him  in  an 
extremely  unfavorable  light.  We  shall  not  give  the  letter 
in  full,  but  merely  refer  to  it.  In  this  letter  Melanchthon 
shows  himself  weak,  suspicious,  not  above  baseless,  cruel 
slanders  against  the  man  whom  he  publicly  professes  to 
revere  as  a  spiritual  father.  Likewise  his  letter  to  Carlowitz, 
in  which  he  accuses  Luther  of  "often  giving  way  to  his 
temperameiit,  in  which  there  is  not  a  little  of  contentious- 
ness," is  not  explained  by  the  explanation  he  tried  to  give 


LUTHER    AND    HIS    FRIENDS.  183 

later  in  his  letter  to  Dietrich  von  Maltz  {UnscTiuldige  Nach- 
rlchten,  1707,  p.  85),  but  remains  an  evidence  of  his  lack 
of  manliness  and  spiritual  greatness.  In  real  soul  quality 
he  seems  to  have  been  as  small  as  his  body. 

The  attempt  of  admirers  and  apologists  of  Melanehthon, 
therefore,  to  make  him  one  of  the  great  heroes  of  the  Refor- 
mation must  fail  to  awaken  a  responsive  chord  in  our  hearts. 
Nevertheless,  while  we  deplore  his  lack  of  courage,  candor, 
and  straightforwardness,  his  weakness  in  dealing  with  the 
representatives  of  the  popish  system,  and  his  deviation,  in  his 
systematic  statement  of  doctrine,  from  revealed  truth  on 
the  question  of  the  doctrine  of  the  human  will  and  divine 
grace,  let  us  not  forget  the  great  service  he  has  rendered  the 
cause  of  the  Reformation.  Let  us  cover  his  weaknesses  with 
the  cloak  of  charity,  and  let  us  gratefully  acknowledge  that, 
despite  his  shortcomings,  he,  too,  was  a  chosen  instrument  in 
the  hand  of  God  to  further  the  great  work  of  the  Lutheran 
Reformation. 

A  discussion  of  Luther's  other  intimate  friends  and  co- 
workers is  a  great  deal  less  difficult  than  a  discussion  of 
Melanehthon  because  there  is  in  their  characters  nothing  of 
the  wavering,  of  the  inconsistency,  and  of  the  lack  of  candor 
that  is  so  annoying  to  the  student  of  the  life  of  Melanehthon. 
John  Brenz,  John  Bugenhagen,  Justus  Jonas,  and  Spalatin 
were  Luther's  confidants  and  advisers  at  all  times  and  at  all 
seasons.  There  was  not  at  any  time  the  least  indication 
of  a  misunderstanding  between  Luther  and  any  one  of  them. 
Open,  frank,  candid,  straightforward,  and  of  independent 
minds  withal,  their  relations  with  Luther  were  always  rela- 
tions of  mutual  trust  and  confidence,  Xot  one  of  them  ever 
felt  that  his  relation  with  Luther  was  becoming  irksome, 
that  he  had  to  yield  to  Luther  in  the  spirit  of  a  slave,  or  that 
he  had  to  make  a  sacrifice  of  his  own  convictions  in  order 
to  please  Luther.  Though  they  were  men  of  great  theological 
learning,  their  talents  were  preeminently  practical,  and  their 
greatest  importance  lies  in  the  service  they  rendered  as 
organizers,   administrators,   and  men   of   affairs. 

Brenz  was  first  drawn  to  Luther  at  the  disputation  held 


184  LUTHER    AND    HIS    FRIENDS. 

at  the  general  chaptea'  of  the  Augustinian  order  at  Heidel- 
berg, in  the  year  1518.  Without  entering  upon  the  subject 
of  his  Ninety-five  Theses,  published  in  the  previous  year, 
Luther  conducted  this  disputation  in  a  manner  that  won  for 
him  the  hearts  of  all  present.  Among  these  were  John  Brenz, 
Erhard  Schnepf,  and  Martin  Bucer,  all  of  whom  soon  took 
prominent  parts  in  the  Protestant  movement.  Brenz  soon 
came  to  Wittenberg,  where  he  gained  Luther's  confidence, 
and  became  his  lifelong  friend.  Because  of  his  rare  gifts, 
he  was  chosen,  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-three  years,  to 
introduce  the  Reformation  in  the  imperial  free  city  of 
Schwaebischhall,  where  he  remained  to  the  end  of  his  useful 
life.  He  remained  in  perfect  accord  with  Luther  throughout, 
organizing,  abolishing  abuses,  introducing  Biblical  doctrine 
and  practise  with  rare  tact  and  judgment,  without  sacrificing 
one  jot  or  tittle  of  divine  truth,  jet  without  giving  offense  to 
the  simplest  folk. 

ISTor  did  he  lack  theological  learning  and  dialectic  skill. 
In  1529,  he  wrote  a  catechism  which  alone  of  the  many 
catechisms  written  at  that  time  has  been  able  to  hold  its 
own  by  the  side  of  Luther's  catechism.  When  Zwingli  and 
Oecolampadius  tried  to  introduce  their  doctrines  in  Swabia, 
Brenz  effectually  foiled  their  attempts,  principally  by  means 
of  the  famous  Syngramma,  which  was  signed  by  fourteen 
Swabian  pastors,  but  was  written  by  Brenz.  Whenever  an 
important  colloquy  was  held,  either  with  the  Romanists  or 
with  the  Zwinglians,  Brenz  was  invariably  consulted,  and 
was  usually  asked  to  be  present. 

John  Bugenhagen,  surnamed  Pomeranus,  was  even  more 
closely  associated  with  Luther  than  was  Brenz,  for  he  re- 
mained at  Wittenberg  to  the  end  of  his  life. 

He  came  to  Wittenberg  shortly  after  the  Diet  of  Worms, 
well  trained  in  theology  and  humanistic  learning,  and  at 
once  began  to  teach  at  the  university.  He  became  a  close 
personal  friend  of  Luther's,  and  remained  united  with  him 
in  the  closest  friendship  until  Luther's  death.  As  early 
as  1522,  Luther  secured  for  him  the  appointment  as  pastor 
of  the  town  church,  much  against  the  wishes  of  the  chapter, 


LUTHER    AXD    HIS    FRIENDS.  185 

most  of  whose  members  were  still  attached  to  the  old  order 
of  things.  As  pastor  of  the  town  church  he  advanced  the 
cause  of  the  new  doctrine  in  every  conceivable  manner.  In 
1524,  he  abolished  private  masses,  and  voted  that  they  should 
be  abolished  in  Jhe  richly  endowed  Church  of  All  Saints, 
of  which  Justus  Jonas  was  provost.  Though  he  received 
flattering-  calls  to  Hamburg  and  to  Danzig,  he  remained  at 
Wittenberg,  where,  he  saw,  he  could  render  greater  service 
to  the  hol^^  cause. 

He  took  part  in  all  the  controversies  of  the  day,  and 
proved  an  invaluable  adviser  to  Luther  at  all  important 
conferences  and  colloquies,  and  his  name  appears  as  one 
of  the  signatories  of  almost  all  the  various  articles  of  agree- 
ment that  were  drawn  up  between  Luther  and  the  various 
Protestant  leaders  whose  teachings  had  differed  from  those 
of  Luther. 

The  most  signal  service,  however,  that  he  rendered  to  the 
Lutheran  movement  was  his  work  as  organizer  and  ad- 
ministrator of  church-affairs  in  cities  and  countries  that 
were  anxious  to  introduce  the  Reformation.  Li  1528,  he 
introduced  the  Reformation  in  the  duchy  of  Braunschweig. 
From  Ih-aunschweig  he  went  to  Hamburg  on  a  similar  mis- 
sion, returning  in  1529.  In  1531,  he  rendered  the  same 
service  to  the  great  commercial  center  and  free  imperial 
city  of  Luebeck.  And  in  1537,  after  the  death  of  King 
Frederick,  he  introduced  the  Reformation  in  Denmark,  where 
he  remained  for  two  years,  organizing  the  ecclesiastical 
establishment  and  the  educational  system  of  the  kingdom. 
He  also  crowned  the  new  king.  Christian  III. 

Personally,  he  seems  to  have  been  more  to  Luther  than 
any  other  man  of  his  day.  The  open,  unreserved  exchange 
of  opinions  with  Bugenhagen  was  a  great  boon  to  Luther, 
and  did  a  great  deal  to  keep  up  Luther's  spirits  and  health. 
Luther  performed  the  marriage  ceremony  at  Bugenhagen's 
wedding,  and  Bugenhagen,  in  turn,  officiated  at  Luther's 
wedding.  When  the  plague  was  raging  at  Wittenberg,  Luther 
and  Bugenhagen  remained  in  the  stricken  city,  and  braved 
the  terril)le  foe;    and  when,  on  a  later  occasion,  Luther  was 


186  LUTHER  a>:d  his  friends. 

about  to  leave  Wittenberg  in  disgust,  it  was  Bugenhagen 
who  prevailed  upon  him  to  remain. 

The  third  in  this  circle  of  friends  was  Justus  Jonas,  the 
Erfurt  Humanist,  who,  having  become  an  ardent  admirer  of 
Luther  despite  Erasmus's  warnings,  had,  in  1519,  exchanged 
the  study  of  law  for  that  of  theology.  When  Luther,  on  his 
journey  to  Worms,  passed  through  Erfurt,  he  was  met  at 
Weimar  by  Justus  Jonas  and  conducted  in  triumphal  entry 
into  the  city  of  Erfurt,  and  when  he  entered  the  city  of 
Worms,  his  carriage  was  followed  by  Jonas  on  horseback. 

Before  long,  Jonas  was  appointed  provost  of  the  Church 
of  All  Saints  at  Wittenberg  and  professor  of  Canonical  Law 
in  the  University.  The  professorship  of  Law,  however,  he 
soon  exchanged  for  a  professorship  of  theology,  after  he 
had  taken  his  doctor's  degree  in  theology.  From  1523  to 
1533,  he  was  dean  of  the  university. 

Like  Brenz  and  Bugenhagen,  and  quite  unlike  Melanch- 
thon,  he  was  a  warm-hearted,  courageous  man,  a  true  friend, 
and,  as  such,  a  genuine  help  and  assistance  to  the  great 
Reformer. 

He  gave  evidence  of  his  courage  when,  in  1522,  he 
insisted  that  the  sacred  relics  which  John  Frederick  had 
collected  at  enormous  expense,  and  stored  in  the  Church 
of  All  Saints,  should  no  longer  be  exhibited,  and  again,  in 
the  same  year,  when  he  expressed  himself  as  in  favor  of 
introducing  the  communion  in  both  kinds. 

Moreover,  he  was  a  man  of  great  learning  and  ability. 
He  translated  Luther's  famous  diatribe  against  Erasmus, 
De  Se7'vo  Arbitrio,  into  German,  and,  on  other  occasions, 
translated  some  of  Luther's  German  works  into  Latin.  He 
was  present  at  many  of  the  colloquies  with  the  Zwinglians 
and  the  Komanists,  and,  at  Augsburg,  exerted  a  salutary 
restraining  influence  upon  Melanchthon,  who,  having  lost 
all  self-possession,  was  about  to  yield  still  more  than  he 
had  already  yielded  in  the  Augsburg  Confession. 

Luther  always  entertained  a  particular  affection  for  hiin, 
and  took  him  with  him  on  his  journey  to  Eisleben  in  1546. 
And  when  Luther  was  dying,  Justus  Jonas  asked  him,  "Rev- 


LUTHER    AND    HIS    FRIENDS.  187 

erende  pater,  will  you   remain  steadfast  in   Christ  and  the  ' 
doctrine   which   you   have   preached?"      Whereupon   Luther 
replied  with  a  loud  "Aye." 

Georg  Burkhardt,  or  Spalatinus,  as  he  is  generally  called, 
having  taken  this  name  from  Spalt  in  Franconia,  his  native 
town,  occupies  a  position  somewhat  apart  in  this  famous 
group. 

lie  had  studied  at  Erfurt,  had  become  a  priest  in  1507, 
and,  in  1514,  liad  been 'appointed  court  chaplain  and  privy 
councilor  to  the  Elector  Frederick  the  Wise.  In  this  official 
capacity  he  had  abundant  opportunity  to  aid  Luther's  cause, 
and  he  availed  himself  of  every  opportunity  that  offered. 
We  may  safely  say  that,  more  than  anything  else,  it  was 
Spalatin's  influence,  exerted  at  the  proper  moments,  that 
guided  the  elector's  conduct  with  reference  to  Luther  and 
his  cause.  He  it  was  that  fought  Luther's  battles  at  the 
electoral  court,  and  prompted  the  elector  to  protect  Luther 
against  his  enemies,  and  to  brave  the  terrors  of  papal  ex- 
communication and  imperial  ban.  It  is  more  than  doubtful 
whether  Frederick  would  have  espoused  the  cause  of  the 
Reformation  as  emphatically  as  he  did,  had  it  not  been  for 
Spalatin's  influence.  ]\[any  an  evil  advice  was  counteracted, 
many  a  sinister  design  frustrated  thanks  to  the  fact  that 
he  had  the  elector's  ear. 

Moreover,  he  was  the  intermediary,  the  channel  of  com- 
munication, so  to  speak,  between  Luther  and  the  elector.  He, 
therefore,  carried  on  an  active  correspondence  with  Luther. 
This  correspondence,  most  of  which  has  been  preserved, 
affords  an  insight  into  the  inner  development  of  the  course 
of  the  events  of  that  great  period.  Luther  was  wont  to 
present  all  his  requests  and  petitions  to  the  elector  through 
Spalatin,  and  to  discuss  with  him  all  his  undertakings.  He 
would  submit  to  him  every  new  polemical  tract,  and  take 
counsel  with  him  whenever  a  new  attack  was  made  by  the 
enemy. 

Spalatin,  it  may  be  stated  here,  played  a  part  in  the 
Reformation  that  is  usually  underestimated.  'Tis  true,  he 
was  not  in  the  forefront  of  the  battle;    he  was  not  a  great 


188  LUTHER   AS    A  PREACHER. 

leader,  not  a  great  scholar,  not  a  great  systematizer,  not 
a  great  organizer  and  administrator.  Yet  much  depended 
upon  him,  for  the  elector  was  guided  by  Spalatin's  judgment 
in  all  things  connected  with  Luther  and  the  university. 
Truly,  it  is  not  saying  too  much  to  maintain  that  Spalatin 
was  the  Lord's  chosen  instrument  for  the  protection  and 
preservation  of  the  life  of  the  Father  of  the  Kef ormation. 


Luther  as  a  Preacher. 

E.EV.  John  H.  C.  Fritz,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

"Preach  the  Gospel!"  This  command  of  Christ  unto 
His  Church  sufficiently  emphasizes  the  fact  that  it  has 
"pleased  God  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching  to  save  them 
that  believe." 

Preaching  had  a  prominent  place  in  the  life  of  Luther 
and  in  the  work  of  the  Reformation. 

Several  centuries  prior  to  the  Reformation  preaching  as 
a  recognized  institution  was  non-existent.  At  length  preach- 
ing orders  arose,  but  their  preaching  was  not  of  the  kind 
which  could  save  sinners.  Some  read  sermons  that  came 
ready-made  to  hand;  some  preached  sermons  of  a  scholastic 
type;  some  related  stories  about  saints  and  told  legends; 
some  even  amused  their  hearers  with  ridiculous  anecdotes. 
Some  of  the  sermons,  perhaps  of  the  better  type,  were  in 
Latin  and  unintelligible  to  the  great  mass  of  hearers.  Small 
wonder  that  the  churches  were  deserted,  and  that  such  men 
as  Savonarola,  Wyclif,  and  Waldus,  supplying  a  real  need, 
attracted  large  numbers  of  hearers. 

The  result  of  preaching  depends  upon  the  message  which 
it  has.  Luther's  preaching  had  one  overmastering  thought, 
and  that  thought  was  Christ.  There  are  three  things  which 
made  Luther  a  great  preacher,  perhaps  the  greatest  since 
the  days  of  the  apostles:  First,  Luther  preached  the  Bihle; 
secondly,  he  preached  it  in  simple  and  clear  language; 
thirdly,  he  addressed  it  to  the  wants  of  7nen,  took  aim  at 
the  heart,   shot  forth  spiritual  arrows  which  did  not  miss 


LUTHER   AS    A  PREACHER.  189 

their  mark.  These  things  characterize  the  great  preachers 
of  all  times. 

Luther  preached  much.  Sometimes  he  preached  four 
sermons  on  a  Sunday  and  two  or  three  during  the  week. 
He  was  much  in  demand  as  a  preacher.  The  people  heard 
him  gladly.  He  was,  in  the  good  sense  of  the  word,  a  popular 
preacher,  a  preacher  of  the  people. 

Luther  had  rare  gift>;,  which  served  him  in  good  stead 
as  a  preacher :  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  Bible,  a  good 
acquaintance  with  the  writings  of  the  church-fathers  and 
the  classics,  a  mind  well  informed  as  to  the  facts  of  history, 
and  filled  with  stores  of  knowledge  on  many  subjects,  a  keen 
perception  of  human  nature,  an  abundance  of  i)ersonal 
experiences,  a  perfect  understanding  of  the  conditions  of 
his  time,  a  happy  faculty  to  address  himself  to  all  classes 
of  men,  a  masterly  use  of  the  German  language,  and,  com- 
bined with  all  this,  a  heroic  faith,  an  undaunted  courage, 
a  good  judgment,  an  untiring  energy,  a  fervent  zeal,  an 
enduring  patience,  an  alert  mind,  a  keen  insight,  a  remark- 
able memory,  and  a  sympathetic  charity. 

Luther's  own  ideas  as  to  preaching  nuist  be  gleaned 
from  his  many  writings.  "The  great  subject  of  preaching," 
says  Luther,  "is  the  glory  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ.  We 
j)reach  always  Him,  the  true  God  and  man,  who  died  for  our 
sins  and  rose  again  for  our  justification.  This  may  seem 
a  limited  and  monotonous  subject,  likely  to  be  soon  exhausted, 
but  we  are  never  at  the  end  of  it."  "There  is  no  more 
terrible  affliction,  misery,  and  misfortune  upon  earth  than 
a  preacher  who  does  not  preach  the  Word  of  God,  of  whom 
there  are,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  many  in  this  world."  "Preachers 
should  be  angels,  God's  messengers,  whose  conversation  is  in 
heaven,  who  always  diligently  study  the  Word  of  God,  in 
order  that  they  do  not  preach  the  doctrine  of  man."  "If 
any  one  has  a  Bible-text  given,  and  he  be  not  able  to  make 
a  sermon,  he  ought  not  to  be  a  preacher."  "Not  that  is 
a  Christian  sermon  which  preaches  the  historical  Christ.  .  .  . 
You  should  teach  and  testify  that  the  Gospcd  of  Christ  is 
given  unto  us  who  believe  for  righteousness  and  salvation." 


190  LUTHER   AS   A  PREACHER. 

^'First  the  Law  should  be  preached,  then  the  promises  of 
Christ."  "One  cannot  speak  of  that  which  he  does  not  we'.l 
know  and  understand."  "He  is  a  foolish  preacher  who  thinlvs 
that  he  must  say  all  that  comes  to  his  mind.  A  preacher 
should  stick  to  the  main  point  of  his  text."  "Preaching  to 
the  people,  we  should  let  white  be  white  and  black  be  black, 
and  speak  to  them  in  simple,  clear  language,  so  that  they 
can  understand  us.  What  pains  did  Christ,  our  Lord,  take 
to  teach  in  simple  language!"  "To  preach  clearly  and-simply 
is  a  great  art."  "It  is  a  common  mistake  made  by  preachers 
to  preach  so  that  the  common  people  derive  little  benefit." 
"A  preacher  must  speak  with  boldness"  (kein  Blatt  vors 
Maul  nehmen).  He  should  address  the  wants  of  the  people, 
"giving,  as  a  wise  steward,  unto  each  his  portion  of  meat 
in  due  season."  "It  is  foolishness  to  use  many  words  and 
say  nothing."  "It  speaks  well  for  a  preacher  to  hear  the 
people  say  when  he  has  finished  his  sermon  that  they  fain 
would  have  heard  him  preach  longer."  Luther  was  theoreti- 
cally not  a  friend  of  long  sermons,  but  he  often  transgressed 
his  own  rule.  He  could,  it  appears,  hold  the  attention 
of  the  people,  and  was,  no  doubt,  guided  by  that  fact. 
A  preacher,  says  Luther,  must  be  able  to  teach  the  truth, 
should  speak  slowly,  have  a  good  head  and  a  good  voice,  be 
diligent,  put  his  very  life  into  his  work,  and  expect  that 
all  men  will  criticise  him. 

A  large  number  of  Luther's  sermons  have  been  handed 
down  to  us.  Luther  was  not  in  the  habit  of  writing  his 
sermons.  The  large  amount  of  work  he  had  probably  pre- 
vented him  from  doing  so.  He  would  meditate  upon  the 
main  thoughts  of  his  sermon  and  then  i)reach.  Luther's 
sermons  were,  more  or  less  carefully,  revised  for  the  press 
by  friends. 

As  a  rule,  Luther  based  his  sermons  on  a  certain  text 
of  Scripture.  Most  of  his  sermons  are  on  the  Gospel-  and 
Epistle-lessons  of  the  well-known  pericopic  system.  He 
seldom  used  free  texts,  but  in  week-day  services  he  would 
preach  on  whole  books  of  the  Bible.     He  did  not  intend  his 


LUTHER   AS    A  PREACHER.  19  X 

example  in  this  respect  to  be  followed  by  all.  Prevailing 
conditions,  he  thought,  required  it. 

Luther  paid  very  little  attention  to  the  outward  form 
of  the  sermon.  The  divine  message  which  he  had  to  deliver 
was  the  one  absorbing  thought  that  received  his  consideration. 
He  preached  because  he  had  something  to  tell.  He  did  not, 
as  a  ru]e,  begin  his  sermons  with  long  introductions.  Fre- 
quently he  would  state  his  subject  at  once.  A  sermon  on 
the  epistle  of  the  Fourth  Sunday  in  Advent  he  begins  by 
simply  saying :  "This  is  a  brief  epistle,  but  it  contains  a  very 
important  and  profound  doctrine  of  the  Christian  faith. 
The  apostle  speaks,  first  of  all,  of  our  conduct  toward  God; 
and,  secondly,  toward  our  neighbor."  Then  he  proceeds  at 
once  with  the  sermon  proper.  His  themes  expressed  clearly 
and  concisely  the  main  thought  of  the  text,  but  they  were 
not  of  a  stereotyped  form.  The  sermon  was  strictly  textual. 
Verj'  often  Luther  would  expound  verse  after  verse.  He 
was  an  expository  preacher.  His  leading  thoughts  were 
always  faith  and  charity,  justification  and  sanctification, 
giving  to  each  its  proper  place  and  its  due  importance. 
He  did  not  preach  sanctification  at  the  expense  of  justifi- 
cation, a  sin  of  which  many  sectarian  preachers  are  guilty; 
but  he  did  not  fail  duly  to  emphasize  the  necessity  of  the 
Christian  life.  His  sermons  were  immensely  practical,  as 
all  preaching,  in  ordea*  to  serve  its  purpose,  should  be.  They 
were  heart-to-heart  talks.  Luther's  language  is  beautiful. 
It  is  clear,  simple,  and,  therefore,  forceful.  He  explained 
words  and  phrases.  He  often  quoted  proverbial  sayings,  the 
very  nature  of  which  is  to  express  a  truth  clearly  in  a  few 
words.  He  spoke  in  parables  taken  from  every-day  life. 
He  told  the  truth  plainly.  He  preached  the  Law  with  all 
severity,  sparing  no  one.  He  preached  the  Gospel  with 
utmost  suavity,  and  comforted  and  encouraged  the  terror- 
stricken  sinner.  "When  he  denounced  false  doctrine  and  all 
manner  of  sin,  his  language  to  us  at  times  appears  to  have 
been  rude,  but  it  was  altogether  in  keeping  with  his  time. 
When  Luther  had  expounded  his  text,  he  stopped  speaking. 

Luther  did  not  think   liighly  of  himself  as   a   preacher. 


192  LUTHER   AS    A  PEEACIIER. 

He  said,  "I  have  often  been  disgusted  with  myself  (habe 
niich  oft  angespien)  when  I  came  from  the  pulpit."  He 
complains  that  he  sometimes  did  not  follow  his  notes,  but 
says  that  just  at  such  a  time  the  people  would  highly  praise 
his  sermon.  He  was  ever  mindful  of  the  great  responsibility 
resting  upon  the  man  in  the  pulpit.  "Believe  me,"  he  said, 
"a  sermon  is  not  the  work  of  man.  Be  not  too  hold,  but 
be  a  preacher  who  fears  God.  I  am  an  old  and  experienced 
preacher,  nevertheless  to  the  present  day  I  feel  uneasy  when 
I  must  preach." 

It  is  well  that  Luther  had  a  humble  opinion  of  himself 
as  a  preacher,  for  we  think  the  more  highly  of  him.  Beware 
of  the  preacher  who  sings  his  own  praises ! 

Luther's  method  of  sermonizing  has  been  called  the 
"heroic  method."  More  properly  it  might  be  called  Luther's 
method.  Luther's  sermons,  as  all  his  writings,  bear  the 
stamp  of  originality.  His  very  originality  contributed  much 
to  his  popularity. 

Luther  cannot  be  imitated.  Neither  should  he  be.  Let 
every  preacher  be  himself.  There  is  very  much,  though, 
which  we  can  learn  from  Luther.  Those  very  things  which 
made  Luther  great  as  a  preacher  are  the  things  wdiich  make 
any  preacher  great.  Every  preacher  should  seek  to  be  great ; 
not,  indeed,  for  the  sake  of  greatness,  —  that  would  be  sinful 
vanity,  and  would  itself  stand  in  the  way  of  real  great- 
ness, —  but  for  the  sake  of  the  cause  of  Christ,  which  the 
preacher  espouses ;   and  that  he  should  consider  a  sacred  duty. 

The  privileges,  responsibilities,  and  opportunities  w^hich 
the  Lord  has  given  unto  His  Church  demand  that  the  very 
best  men  be  in  the  Christian  pulpit.  As  it  is,  the  land  is 
filled  with  an  abundance  of  poor  preachers.  The  great  need 
of  the  hour  is  that  there  be  more  preachers  who,  like  to 
Luther,  seek  solely  the  salvation  of  sinners,  and  thus  the 
glory  of  God,  and  who  to  this  end,  trusting  in  the  many 
gracious  promises  of  God,  will  preach  the  Gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ  to  the  multitudes  within  the  Church  and  to  the  still 
greater  multitudes  without  the  Church;    in  short,  preachers 


LUTHER   AS   A  PREACHER.  193 

are  needed  that  are  fully  devoted  to  their  God  and  to  that 
work  which  God  has  called  them  to  do  in  His  name. 

Luther  says  that  David  in  the  119th  Psalm  gives  unto 
him  who  would  he  a  theologian  a  threefold  rule,  which  he 
chooses  to  express  with  three  words:  Oratio,  meditatio, 
tentatio  (prayer,  study,  and  personal  experience).  The 
preacher  who  neglects  diligently  to  ask  God  to  hless  his 
work,  who  does  not  diligently  study  his  Bible,  and  all  that 
will  be  helpful  to  him  in  his  calling,  and  who  has  but  little 
experienced  the  power  of  the  Word  in  his  own  heart  and 
life,  will  not  make  a  successful  preacher  nor  pastor.  Tie 
had  better  take  up  some  other  work. 

What  is  lacking  in  much  of  the  preaching  of  our  day 
are  the  very  things  which  made  Luther's  preaching  both 
interesting  and  profitable.  As  to  these  very  things  Luther's 
sermons  should  be  carefully  studied.  The  result  of  such 
studj"  will  be  found  in  the  greater  success  with  which  preach- 
ing will  be  blessed  to  the  glory  of  God.  Foremost,  of  course, 
must  stand  Luther's  scripturalness  of  preaching,  but  second 
to  it  his  directness.  Luther's  method  of  preaching  ought  to 
be  revived.  Many  sermons  are  artificial  and  mechanical. 
The  preacher,  when  meditating  upon  and  writing  his  sermons, 
should  not  have  his  homiletical  rules  (good  and  needful  as 
these  may  be  in  themselves)  uppermost  in  his  mind,  but  the 
needs  of  the  people.  Sermons  should  not  be  preached  because 
the  time  for  preaching  has  come,  but  because  the  preacher 
has  a  divine  message  to  deliver.  The  preacher  should  not 
seek  to  please  people  with  his  sermons,  but  to  henefit  them. 
He  should  not  aim  at  "fine  writing"  when  making  his 
sermons,  but  at  preaching  the  Gospel  in  the  very  simplest 
language.  There  is  not  only  a  Gospel-famine  in  the  land, 
but  also  much  Gospel-preaching  "over  the  heads  of  the 
people."  "When  I  preach,"  said  Luther,  "I  regard  neither 
the  doctors  nor  magistrates,  .  .  .  but  I  have  an  eye  to  tlio 
multitude  of  young  people,  children,  and  servants." 

While  it  is  sadly  true  that  the  multitudes  prefer  to  go 
to  the  playhouses  and  not  to  the  churches,  it  is  also  sadly 
true  that  much  of  the  poor  church  attendance  of  our  day  is 

Four  Hundred  Years.  1;5 


194  LUTHER'S    IXFLUEXCE   OX   POPULAR   EDUCATION. 

due  to  poor  preaching.  "Audiences  are  held  by  useful  and 
clear  sermons,"  says  the  Apology  of  the  Augsburg  Con- 
fession. If  the  preacher  will  not  put  much  into  his  sermon, 
he  need  not  be  surprised  that  the  people  will  not  come  to 
get  anything  out  of  it. 

The  work  of  the  Reformation  will  best  be  commemorated 
if  all  preachers,  to  begin  with,  will  better  learn  from  Luther 
not  only  what  to  preach,  but  also  how  to  preach;  for  Luther 
preached  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  and  he  preached  it  after 
the  manner  of  Christ. 


Luther's  Influence  on  Popular  Education. 

Prof.  W.  C.  Kohn,  Concordia  Teachers'  College,  River  Forest,  111. 

A  brief  survey  of  the  history  of  education  of  all  nations 
will  force  us  to  yield  assent  to  the  statement  so  commonly 
made  that  Luther  is  the  father  of  popular  education. 

The  education  of  the  Jews  provided  for  Jewish  children 
only.  The  Oriental  education  was  based  on  the  promulga- 
tion of  the  caste  system,  or  fostered  class  distinction  by 
affording  superior  advantages  to  the  children  of  the  privi- 
leged few,  and  neglecting  the  enlightenment  of  the  lower 
classes,  regarding  them  as  incapable  of  considerable  intel- 
lectual development.  The  Grecian  and  Roman  education 
was  founded  on  the  despotism  of  the  State,  and  was  based 
on  the  theory  that  education  consisted  foremost  in  training- 
citizens,  who  were  under  allegiance  to  the  State,  who  could 
have  no  other  interest  than  that  interwoven  with  the  interest 
of  the  State. 

Christianity  marked  a  new  era  in  education,  giving  an 
entirely  new  foundation,  and  setting  a  new  goal  for  it.  The 
aim  of  Christian  education  is  the  welfare  of  all  men,  of 
each  and  every  individual  of  whatever  race  or  color,  sweep- 
kig  away  all  castes,  and  abolishing  Oriental  class  distinction, 
thereby  not  only  seeking  the  earthly  welfare  and  bodily 
comfort  of  humanity,  but  also  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the 
individual  and  the  preparation  of  his  soul  for  eternal  bliss. 


LUTHER'S    INFLUENCE   OX   POPULAR   EDUCATION.  195 

Thus  a  firm  basis  for  popular  education  was  provided  for  by 
Christ  Himself.  Ifany  centuries,  however,  elapsed  before 
this  impulse  accomplished  its  culmination. 

Education  before  the  Reformation  Period. 

The  period  covering  the  time  between  the  sixth  century 
and  the  Reformation  has  very  appropriately  been  called  the 
Dark  Ages.  Historians,  however,  do  not  intend  to  condemn 
everything  in  these  ages  pertaining  to  education.  Seeley 
says :  "These  fifteen  centuries  embrace  those  generally  known 
in  history  as  the  Dark  Ages,  during  which  progress  was 
indeed  slow.  But  when  we  remember  the  obstacles  which 
were  to  be  met,  .  .  .  we  marvel  at  the  great  results  attained." 
Roman  Catholic  writers,  however,  have  often  attempted  to 
reconstruct  the  history  of  these  centuries  to  such  an  extent 
as  to  gloss  over  the  guilt  of  the  Catholic  Church  by  diminish- 
ing the  corruption  of  the  papal  hierarchy,  by  magnifying 
the  obstacles  which  were  to  be  met,  and  by  aggrandizing  the 
little  achievements  of  the  Church  or  its  orders. 

However,  frankly  admitting  that  one  cannot  condemn 
everything  in  those  centuries,  every  unprejudiced  student  of 
history  will,  nevertheless,  most  readily  be  convinced  that 
the  causes  of  the  darkness  and  of  the  ignorance  in  the  edu- 
cational field  of  the  Dark  Ages  were  the  decline  of  the 
Church  and  its  departure  from  the  fundamental  principles 
of  education  laid  down  by  our  Savior  Jesus  Christ.  If  the 
Church  had  abided  by  the  teachings  of  the  Bible,  the  whole 
Bible,  it  would  never  have  permitted  papacy  to  rise,  and 
the  aim  of  its  educational  system  would  not  have  been  to 
give  the  hierarchy  power  to  wield  its  scepter  for  the  stulti- 
fication of  the  masses  such  as  had  developed  at  the  dawn 
of  the  sixteenth  century. 

Recapitulating  the  history  of  the  Middle  Ages,  Campayre 
writes:  "The  Middle  Ages,  in  itself,  whatever  effort  may  be 
put  forth  at  this  day  to  rehabilitate  it,  and  to  discover  in  it 
the  golden  age  of  modern  societies,  remains  an  ill-starred 
epoch.  A  few  virtues,  negative  for  the  most  part,  virtues  of 
obedience  and  consecration,  cannot  atone  for  the  real  faults 
of  those  rude  and  barbarous  centuries.  .  .  .     Popular  edu- 


196  Luther's  i^'fluence  on  popular  education. 

cation  was  almost  null  and  restricted  to  the  teaching  of  the 
catechism  in  Latin.  Finally,  a  church  absolute  and  sovereign, 
which  determined  for  all,  great  and  small,  the  limits  of 
thought,  of  belief,  and  of  action,  such  was,  from  our  own 
point  of  view,  the  condition  of  the  Middle  Ages." 

The  neglect  of  the  common  people  was  a  notable  and 
lamentable  defect  in  the  educational  system  of  the  Middle 
Ages  as  no  great  eifort  was  made  to  elevate  and  enlighten 
them  by  education.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  and  its 
hierarchy,  who  were  in  control  of  educational  affairs  in  those 
centuries,  have  always  been  antagonistic  to  the  education  of 
the  masses,  considering  intelligent  lay-members  a  source  of 
danger  for  the  supremacy  of  the  pope.  Painter,  in  reviewing 
the  institutions  operated  for  educational  purposes  in  those 
centuries,  says:  "The  ecclesiastical  schools  were  designed 
chiefly  for  candidates  for  the  priesthood;  the  parochial 
schools  fitted  the  young  for  church-membership ;  the  burgher 
schools  were  intended  for  the  commercial  and  artisan  classes 
of  the  cities;  knightly  education  gave  training  to  chivalry. 
Thus  the  laboring  classes  were  left  to  toil  on  in  ignorance 
and  want ;  they  remained  in  a  dependent  and  servile  con- 
dition, their  lives  unillumined  by  intellectual  pleasures.  If 
here  and  there,  as  claimed  by  Roman  Catholic  writers, 
popular  schools  were  established,  they  were  too  few  in  number 
and  too  weak  in  influence  to  deserve  more  than  a  passing- 
mention." 

It  cannot  be  denied,  however,  that  schools  existed  in  the 
fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  but  in  general  their  con- 
dition was  very  dismal,  and  the  knowledge  they  imparted 
was  insignificant.  The  monks  of  Franciscan  and  Dominican 
orders,  who,  as  a  rule,  were  the  professors  at  the  universi- 
ties, were  not  seeking  the  welfare  of  the  people,  but  en- 
deavored to  establish  their  sovereignty  and  to  accumulate 
riches  in  order  to  live  a  life  of  luxury.  The  priests  in 
the  cities  were  too  indolent  to  teach  the  children,  but  would 
hire  drill-masters,  men,  as  a  rule,  who  were  incapable  of 
gaining  their  livelihood  in  any  other  way,  men  without 
knowledge  or  educational  training,  and  therefore,  incompe- 


Luther's  influence  ox  popular  education.  197 

tent  to  conduct  a  well-regulated  school.  They  would  make 
the  children  commit  to  memory  the  Ten  Commandments, 
the  Creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  several  hymns  by  constant 
repetition  and  rehearsing-.  The  education  of  the  youth  in 
the  country  was  wholly  neglected;  the  children  were  en- 
tirely ignorant  of  even  tlie  most  necessary  points  of  the 
Christian  doctrines.  The  only  thing  they  were  conversant 
with  were  the  ceremonies  prescribed  for  public  worship. 
Such  is  the  result  when  the  Church  neglects  popular  Chris- 
tian education. 

Luther's  Impression  of  the  State  of  Affairs  ix  the 
Schools  of  His  Time. 

These  were  the  conditions  found  by  Luther  in  1528  during 
his  visitation  of  the  churches  and  schools  of  Saxony,  and  they 
caused  him  to  cry  out  in  the  preface  to  the  Small  Catechism 
which  he  was  constrained  to  write:  "Alas,  what  manifold 
misery  I  beheld!  The  common  people,  especially  in  the 
villages,  know  nqthing  at  all  of  Christian  doctrine;  and 
many  pastors  are  quite  unfit  and  incompetent  to  teach.  Yet 
all  are  called  Christians,  have  been  baptized,  and  enjoy  the 
use  of  the  Sacraments  although  they  know  neither  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  nor  the  Creed,  nor  the  Ten  Commandments,  and 
live  like  the  poor  brutes  and  irrational  swine.  O  ye  bishops ! 
How  will  ye  ever  render  account  to  Christ  for  having  so 
shamefully  neglected  the  people!" 

When  Luther  perceived  this  state  of  affairs,  it  was  clear 
to  him  that  a  godless  home  and  a  worthless  class  of  edu- 
cators were  the  cause  of  the  downfall  of  Church  and  State, 
and  that  a  solid  foundation  for  both  could  be  laid  only  by 
an  efficient  popular  Christian  education  of  the  children  in 
home  and  school. 

Luther  Urges  Home-Trainixg. 
With  resistless  energy  Luther  therefore  impressed  upon 
parents  their  obligation  to  bring  up  their  children  in  the 
nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord.  He  insisted  upon 
home-training.  His  writings  show  that  he  had  a  clear  con- 
ception of  the  duties  of  parents  towards  their  children.     He 


198  Luther's  influence  on  popular  education. 

admonishes  them  to  honor  holy  wedlock  as  a  divine  insti- 
tution and  to  look  upon  their  children  as  precious  gifts 
of  God,  as  lovely  fruits  of  marriage,  strengthening  the  bond 
of  love.  He  tells  them  that  God  has  entrusted  the  children 
He  has  given  them  to  their  parental  care,  and  urges  them  on, 
by  adducing  all  possible  reasons,  to  do  their  duty  for  the 
benefit  of  the  individual,  for  the  Church,  and  for  the 
commonwealth.  He  also  reminds  them  of  the  dreadful 
Judgment  Day,  when  a  strict  account  of  their  work  would 
be  demanded,  and  their  wilful  negligence  would  be  punished. 
"Children,"  he  writes,  "are  the  most  lovely  fruits  and  power- 
ful bonds  of  marriage,  and  confirm  and  preserve  the  bond 
of  love."  "Married  people  should  remember  that  they  can 
perform  no  better  and  no  more  useful  work  for  the  glory 
of  God,  for  the  benefit  of  both  Church,  and  State,  aye,  for 
themselves  and  their  children,  than  by  properly  bringing  up 
their  children."  "It  is  to  be  sadly  deplored  that  we  all 
live  as  though  God  had  given  us  children  merely  for  our 
pleasure  or  amusement,  and  servants  that  we  should  employ 
them  like  a  cow  or  an  ass,  for  work  only,  or  as  though  all 
we  were  to  do  with  those  who  are  subject  to  our  authority 
were  to  satisfy  our  wantonness,  and  that  it  need  not  concern 
^s  what  they  learn  or  how  they  live;  and  no  one  is  willing 
to  see  that  this  is  the  command  of  the  Supreme  Majesty, 
who  will  most  strictly  call  us  to  account  and  punish  us 
for  it." 

He  also  shows  what  great  evil  results  if  parents  neglect 
to  train  their  children:  "Think  what  deadly  injury  you  are 
doing  if  you  are  negligent  in  this  matter,  if  you  fail  to 
bring  up  your  child  to  a  life  of  usefulness  and  piety,  and 
how  you  thus  bring  down  upon  yourself  God's  wrath  and 
eternal  damnation,  even  though  you  be  otherwise  ever  so 
pious  and  holy.  And  because  this  is  disregarded,  God  so 
fearfully  punishes  the  world  that  there  is  no  discipline, 
government,  or  peace,  of  which  we  all  complain,  while  we 
do  not  see  that  it  is  our  fault;  for  we  have  spoiled  and  dis- 
obedient children  and  subjects  because  we  do  not  train -them 
as  we  should." 


LUTHER'S    INFLUENCE   ON   POPULAR    EDUCATION.  199 

But  eousidering  how  unlit  most  of  the  parents  were  to 
teach  their  children  even  the  elements  of  Christian  doctrine, 
as  well  as  of  secular  knowledge,  and  thinking  of  their 
homes  with  their  surroundings,  realizing,  too,  that  they  were 
not  even  aware  of  their  responsibility  in  this  matter,  or 
that  slothful  i)arents  would  wilfully  neglect  their  children 
and  let  them  grow  up  without  proper  instruction,  or  spoil 
them  by  undue  indulgence,  Luther  felt  that  it  was  nec- 
essary to  establish  common  schools,  which  the  magistrates 
should  provide,  and  urged  the  reorganization  and  reformation 
of  those  already  existing.  In  so  doing,  he  not  only  pointed 
out  the  glaring  defects  of  the  schools  of  his  time,  deploring 
their  inefficiency,  but  also  clearly  showed  a  way  of  laying 
a  solid  foundation  of  an  effective  educational  system,  which 
should  begin  with  the  common  school  for  boys  and  girls  of 
all  classes  of  the  population,  and  culminate  in  a  systema- 
tizing of  the  plan  and  methods  of  the  college  and  university. 
His  system  of  education  comprised:  1.  The  primary  schools; 
2.  the  secondary  schools;  3.  the  universities.  For  all  he 
introduced  graded  instruction,  and  improved  the  course  of 
study,  as  well  as  the  methods,  which  are  to  this  day  standards 
for  educational  science. 

Luther  Demands  School-Training. 

Upon  parents  and  ministers,  as  well  as  upon  the  officials 
of  the  State,  he  vigorously  impressed  their  obligation  to 
provide  for  the  education  of  the  young,  and  to  avail  them- 
selves of  the  opportunity  to  send  them  to  school.  In  his  two 
most  prominent  pedagogical  writings,  his  "Letter  to  the 
Mayors  and  Aldermen  of  All  Cities  of  Germany  in  Behalf 
of  Christian  Schools"  and  his  "Sermon  on  the  Duty  of 
Sending  Children  to  School,"  and  also  in  his  "Tischreden,"" 
he  not  only  maps  out  the  plan  of  studies  and  application 
of  the  most  important  methods  of  teaching,  but  demands 
an  education  in  schools,  a  thorough  school-training,  not  only 
of  the  children  of  the  rich,  or  the  upper  classes,  but  of 
every  child. 

To  the  objection  of  those  who  insisted  upon  teaching  and 
Training  their  children  at  home  only  or  at  inadequate  schools 


200  Luther's  ixfluexce  on  popular  educatiox. 

he  answered :  "But  each  one,  you  say,  may  educate  and  train 
his  own  sons  and  daughters.  To  which  I  reply:  We  see 
indeed  the  sad  results  of  such  teaching  and  training.  Even 
when  carried  to  the  highest  point,  and  if  attended  with  suc- 
cess, it  exhibits  nothing  more  than  that  the  pupils,  in  some 
measure,  acquire  a  forced  external  propriety  of  manners; 
in  other  respects  they  remain  dunces,  knowing  nothing,  and 
not  able  to  give  advice  or  aid.  But  were  they  instructed 
in  schools  or  elsewhere  by  thoroughly  trained  male  and 
female  teachers,  who  are  competent  to  teach  the  languages, 
other  arts,  and  history,  then  the  pupils  would  become  con- 
versant with  the  world's  history,  and  acquire  a  knowledge 
of  the  world,  and  see  how  each  city,  kingdom,  j)rince,  man 
and  woman  fared,  and  thus  be  able  to  comprehend,  as  in 
a  mirror,  the  character,  life,  counsels,  undertakings,  suc- 
cesses, and  failures  of  mankind  from  the  beginning  of  days. 
Equipped  with  this  knowledge,  they  could  regulate  their 
views  and  order  their  course  of  life  in  the  fear  of  God.  .  .  . 
But  the  training  that  is  given  at  home  is  expected  to  make 
us  wise  through  our  own  experience.  Before  that  can  take 
place,  we  shall  die  a  hundred  times."  And  such  education 
as  he  demanded  for  the  youth  should  not  be  given  to  boys 
only,  but  also  to  girls.  "Would  to  God,"  Luther  exclaims, 
"that  each  town  had  also  a  girls'  school,  in  which  girls 
might  be  taught  the  Gospel!" 

It  is  evident  that  Luther  intended  to  establish  the  school 
as  the  principal  agency  for  the  diffusion  of  knowledge,  and 
therefore  he  directed  the  eyes  of  the  mayors  and  the  nobility, 
as  well  as  the  attention  of  all  parents,  to  this  public  insti- 
tution. 

Luther  wanted  the  school  not  only  to  teach  the  Word  of 
God  and  to  mold  the  individual  character,  but  it  should  also 
shape  the  social  conditions.  Conformably  to  this,  he  pre- 
sented two  reasons  therefor,  whenever  he  urged  the  establish- 
ment and  maintenance  of  schools.  One  of  these  was,  that 
the  welfare  of  the  State  and  the  social  conditions  for  the 
future  should  be  shaped  through  the  medium  of  instruction, 
and  the  other  was  the  perpetuation  and  advancement  of  the 


LUTIIER's    IXFLUEXCE   ox   POrULAR   EDrCATlOX,  201 

Cliiu'cli.  T'^nlike  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy,  Luther  did  not 
seek  his  own  interest,  nor  solely  the  interest  of  the  Church, 
but  regarding  secular  goverinnent  as  a  divine  institution 
and  the  Church  as  the  bride-elect  of  Christ,  he  sought  the 
welfare  of  each  in  its  own  station.  Referring  to  this,  he 
says :  "Thus,  also,  in  a  secular  office  you  can  serve  your 
sovereign  or  country  better  by  training  children  than  by 
building  castles  and  cities.  .  .  .  For  what  good  can  these  do 
without  learned,  wise,  and  pious  people?  .  .  .  When  schools 
[Christian  schools  such  as  they  should  be]  prosper,  the 
Church  remains  righteous  and  her  doctrine  pure.  .  .  .  Young 
pupils  and  students  are  the  seed  and  source  of  the  Church. 
When  we  are  dead  and  gone,  whence  would  come  our  suc- 
cessors^ if  not  from  the  school  ?  For  the  sake  of  the  Church 
we  nnist  have  and  maintain  schools." 

Luther  Demands  Religious  Schools. 

Luther  knew,  however,  that  if  the  school-training  was 
to  achieve  the  desired  results,  and  be  an  important  factor  in 
advancing  civil  righteousness  and  perpetuating  the  Church, 
a  thorough  religious  training  was  an  absolute  necessity.  He 
was  aware  of  the  fact  that,  even  if  the  boundaries  of  science 
would  be  extended  in  every  direction,  and  if  knowledge  would 
be  universally  diffused  throughout  the  world,  the  advance- 
ment of  public  and  private  morality  would  not  be  achieved 
unless  a  thorough  religious  instruction  were  made  the  foun- 
dation of  all  secular  branches.  He  was  convinced  that  science 
without  a  religious  basis  would  only  increase  vice  and  crime, 
and  that  dishonesty  and  corruption  would  prevail. 

Luther,  therefore,  desired  the  establishment  of  schools  in 
which  all  training  was  based  upon  the  W^ord  of  God.  He 
knew  that,  by  urging  this,  he  was  seeking  the  welfare  of 
the  State  as  well  as  of  the  Church.  Religion,  true  religion, 
founded  upon  the  Scripture  alone,  is  not  only  of  supreme 
benefit  to  every  individual,  it  is  also  the  means  of  welding 
together  society  (a  community),  a  safeguard  of  morals,  and 
the  most  powerful  incentive  to  perform  one's  duty.  It  is 
the  foundation  of  Church  and  State.     It  was  an  established 


202  Luther's  ixfluexce  ox  PoruLAR  education. 

fact   with   Luther   that   learning    and    eloquence,    arts    and 
sciences,  were  of  little  value  without  religious  training. 

This  he  expressed  on  various  occasions:  "See  to  it  in 
the  first  place,"  he  says,  "that  your  children  are  instructed 
in  spiritual  things.  Give  them  first  to  God,  and  then  let 
them  learn  their  secular  duties."  "Children  should  be  in- 
structed in  everything  pertaining  to  God.  They  should  be 
taught  to  know  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  constantly  to 
bear  in  mind  how  He  has  suffered  for  us,  what  He  has  done, 
and  what  He  has  promised  to  do."  "Above  all,  in  schools  of 
whatever  description,  the  chief  and  most  common  lesson, 
should  he  the  Scripture.  .  .  .  Where  the  Holy  Scriptures  do 
not  rule,  I  advise  no  one  to  send  his  child.  Everything  must 
perish  where  God's  Word  is  not  studied  unceasingly."  "The 
soul  can  do  without  everything  except  the  Word  of  God. 
"Without  this  it  suffers  want;  but  when  it  has  God's  Word, 
it  needs  nothing  more." 

To  make  religious  training  possible  and  effective,  Luther 
translated  the  Bible,  and  to  furnish  a  course  of  religious 
instruction  for  children,  he  wrote  the  Small  Catechism,  in 
the  preface  to  which  he  laid  down  pedagogical  principles. 
For  this  reason  he  advocated  a  thorough  training  for  the 
office  of  teaching.  "Whosoever  is  to  teach  others,  especially 
from  Holy  Scriptures,  and  wishes  rightly  to  understand  this 
book,  must  first  have  observed,  and  learned  to  know,  the 
world.  .  .  .  You  should  not  only  consider  the  words  in  your 
heart,  but  examine  them  diligently  as  you  find  them  in  the 
text,  in  order  that  you  may  understand  what  the  Holy  Ghost 
means  to  te^ch  in  the  Holy  Book."  As  pastors  should  be 
the  overseers  of  the  school,  he  pointed  out  the  necessity  of 
having  a  knowledge  of  pedagogy  and  of  having  gained  some 
experience  in  teaching.  "I  would  have  no  one  chosen  for 
.a  preacher,"  he  says,  "who  has  not  previously  been  a  school- 
teacher." 

The  Duty  of  Sending  Children  to  School, 

In  his  pedagogical  letters  Luther  brought  argument  upon 
argument  to  induce  parents  to  send  their  children  to  the 
established  schools.     He  reminded  them  of  the  wretchedness 


LUTHER'S    INFLUENCE   ON   POPULAR   EDUCATION.  203 

of  their  former  condition,  when  they  groped  in  darkness, 
while  now  the  grace  of  God  illumined  their  paths,  which  they 
should  not  receive  in  vain  and  thus  neglect  "the  accepted 
time.''  He  pointed  out  to  them  the  command  of  the  Lord 
urging  and  enjoining  parents  to  instruct  their  children.  He 
said  to  them :  "It  is  indeed  a  sin  and  shame  that  we  must 
be  aroused  and  incited  to  the  duty  of  educating  our  children 
and  considering  their  highest  interests,  whereas  nature  itself 
should  move  us  thereto,  and  the  example  of  the  heathen 
affords  us  varied  instruction.  .  .  .  And  what  would  it 
avail  if  we  possessed  and  performed  all  else,  and  became 
perfect  saints,  if  we  neglect  that  for  which  we  chiefly  live, 
namely,  to  care  for  the  young?  In  my  judgment  there  is 
no  other  offense  that  in  the  sight  of  God  so  heavily  burdens 
the  world,  and  deserves  such  heavy  chastisement,  as  the 
neglect  to  educate  children."   (Painter,  Luther-an  Education.) 

Luther  vividly  conceived  the  disapproval  of  some  impious 
and  slothful  parents,  who  cared  little  for  the  welfare  of  their 
children  nor  for  that  of  the  State,  and  he  foresaw  their 
opposition  to  school-training.  Of  these  he  said  that,  for 
the  welfare  of  tlie  community,  they  ought  to  be  compelled 
to  educate  their  children.  As  the  separation  of  Church  and 
State  had  not  been  effected,  he,  under  the  prevailing  cir- 
cumstances, sent  a  letter  to  the  mayors  of  cities,  telling  them 
"that  the  welfare  of  the  city  did  not  consist  alone  in  great 
treasures,  firm  walls,  and  abundant  munitions  of  war,  but 
the  greatest  power  of  a  nation  consisted  in  able  citizens, 
whose  intellectual  power  could  secure,  preserve,  and  utilize 
Qvery  treasure  and  advantage.  Therefore  they  should  estab- 
lish schools,  and  compel  the  citizens  to  maintain  them,  as 
they  would  force  them  to  render  contributions  and  services 
toward  bridges."  Furthermore,  they  should  compel  them  to 
educate  their  children :  "I  maintain  that  the  civil  authori- 
ties are  under  obligation  to  compel  the  people  to  send  their 
children  to  school." 

Luther  also  thought  of  the  poor,  who,  lacking  the  means 
to  pay  tuition  fees,  could  not  give  a  promising  boy  a  tliorough 
education.    In  order  to  open  the  way  to  a  thorough  education 


204  Luther's  influence  ox  popular  educatiox. 

for  such  poor,  but  promising  boys,  he  urged  the  people  to 
liberally  contribute  towards  the  maintenance  of  schools,  and 
the  rich  to  make  substantial  bequests  for  that  purpose.  He 
wrote:  "Therefore  let  him  who  can  watch;  and  wherever 
the  government  sees  a  promising  boy,  let  him  be  sent  to 
school.  If  the  father  is  poor,  let  the  child  be  aided  with 
the  property  of  the  Church.  The  rich  should  make  bequests 
to  such  objects,  as  some  have  done,  who  have  founded 
scholarships." 

Luther  Esteems  the  Office  of  Teaching. 

To  imiDress  upon  everybody  how  much  he  valued  popular 
education  in  common  schools,  Luther  set  forth  the  great 
importance  of  the  office  of  teaching,  and  showed  how  highly 
he  esteemed  a  pious  schoolteacher.  Li  his  Tischreden  he 
wrote:  "A  schoolmaster  is  as  important  to  a  city  as  is 
a  pastor.  We  can  do  without  mayors,  princes,  and  noblemen, 
but  not  without  schools;  for  these  must  rule  the  world.  .  .  . 
Therefore  schools  are  indispensable.  And  if  I  M'ere  not 
a  preacher,  there  is  no  other  calling  on  earth  that  I  would 
rather  have.  But  we  must  consider,  not  how  the  world 
esteems  and  rewards  this  office,  but  how  God  looks  upon  it." 
"To  be  brief,  a  diligent  and  pious  schoolmaster,  who  faith- 
fully trains  and  educates  boys,  can  never  be  sufficiently  rec- 
ompensed, and  no  money  will  pay  him,  as  even  the  heathen 
Aristotle  says.  Yet  the  calling  is  shamefully  despised  among 
us,  as  if  it  were  nothing,  and  at  the  same  time  we  pretend 
to  be  Christians !  If  I  had  to  resign  preaching  and  my  other 
duties,  there  is  no  office  I  would  rather  have  than  that  of 
a  schoolteacher.  For  I  know  that  next  to  the  ministry  it 
is  the  most  useful,  greatest,  and  best;  and  I  am  not  sure 
which  of  the  two  is  to  be  preferred."  "Therefore  let  it  be 
considered  one  of  the  highest  virtues  on  earth  faithfully  to 
train  the  children  of  others,  which  duty  but  very  few  parents 
attend  to  themselves." 

Luther's  ideas  of  popular  education  went  forth  like 
a  flash  of  lightning  into  the  darkness  of  education,  the 
sorry  bequest  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  kindled  a  fire  in  the 
minds  of  the  thinking  populace  of  Germany  that  spread  over 


Luther's  influence  ox  popular  education.  205 

the  entire  world.  His  words  were  like  thunderbolts  arousing 
every  one  who  heard  them  and  pondered  over  them.  In  all 
parts  of  the  country  schools  were  established  and  maintained, 
and  in  order  to  systematize  the  course  of  teaching  in  the 
various  schools  Luther  was  called  upon  to  draw  up  school- 
schedules  and  to  ex])lain  the  methods  of  teaching,  which  he 
cheerfully  did. 

The  pedagogical  principles  and  methods  laid  down  by 
Luther  form  the  fundamental  principles  of  education  up 
to  this  day.  Ditte  says  in  his  Geschichfe  der  Erziehnncj,  etc., 
regarding  Luther's  plans  and  methods:  "Tf  we  survey  the 
pedagogy  of  Luther  in  every  particular,  and  imagine  it  put 
into  practise  in  all  its  details,  what  a  splendid  picture  the 
schools  and  education  of  the  sixteenth  century  would  present ! 
We  should  have  courses  of  study,  text-hooks,  teachers, 
methods,  principles,  and  modes  of  discipline,  schools  and 
school  regulations,  that  could  serve  as  models  for  our 
own   age." 

Recapitulating  the  pedagogical  principles  of  Luther  in 
Jiis  two  most  important  writings  on  this  subject  and  the 
influence  of  Luther  on  popular  education,  the  following 
l)articulars  are  evident:  From  the  Word  of  God,  which 
teaches  that  God  wants  all  men  to  be  saved  and  to  come  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  Luther  drew  the  conclusion  that 
every  man,  woman,  and  child,  irrespective  of  class  or  color, 
was  entitled  to  a  Christian  education.  Parents  should  there- 
fore regard  their  children  as  precious  gifts  of  God,  and 
preserve  them,  teach  them,  train  them  for  this  life,  and 
provide  for  their  eternal  welfare. 

L^^nder  the  prevailing  conditions  of  non-separation  of 
Church  and  State  Luther  urged  the  officials  of  both  Church 
and  State  to  provide  for  the  education  of  the  masses,  and,  to 
this  end,  establish  and  maintain  Christian  schools,  as  being- 
necessary  for  the  welfare  of  the  State  and  for  the  perpetua- 
tion and  propagation  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  ^lost  em- 
phatically he  pointed  out  that  religious  training  must  be 
the  foundation  of  all  education  and  instruction,  and  that 
religion  was  the   source   of  all   Christian   virtue^   and    civic 


206  ECONOMIC   TEACHINGS    AND   INFLUENCE   OF   LUTHER. 

righteousness.  He  therefore  reorganized  the  existing  common 
schools,  the  colleges  and  universities,  introduced  a  graded 
school  system,  and  improved  the  plans  and  methods  of 
instruction  to  such  an  extent  that  they  form  the  foundation 
of  the  principles  of  education  up  to  modern  times.  He  also 
touched  upon  the  principles  of  a  vocational  school  system, 
holding  that  every  child  should  become  conversant  with  the 
practical  duties  of  life;  the  boys  should  learn  a  trade  and 
the  girls  housework.  He  praised  the  office  of  teaching,  saying 
that  every  teacher  is  worthy  of  high  respect.  He  urged  the 
necessity  of  a  thorough  training  of  every  teacher,  and  since 
by  virtue  of  his  office  every  pastor  is  the  overseer  of  the 
school,  he,  too,  must  be  given  the  necessary  training  in  peda- 
gogics, and  get  some  experience  in  teaching. 

Giving  other  educators  all  the  credit  due  them,  an  un- 
biased observer  and  student  of  the  history  of  education  is, 
nevertheless,  impressed  with  the  indisputable  fact  that  Luther 
is  the  father  of  popular  education,  its  principles  and  its 
methods,  and  that  his  influence  has  shaped  the  system  of  edu- 
cation throughout  the  civilized  world  up  to  this  day. 

Do  we  really  realize  what  an  inheritance  we  have  re- 
ceived from  Luther  and  the  Lutheran  Reformation? 


The  Economic  Teachings  and  Influence 
of  Luther. 

Rev.  0.  H.  Pannkoke,  Brooklyn,  X.  Y. 

Gustave  Schmollez,  one  of  the  greatest  German  econo- 
mists, claims  that  without  the  work  of  Luther  the  steam 
engine  and  the  resultant  change  in  the  economic  life  of  the 
world  would  have  been  impossible.  It  is  difficult  to  bring 
conclusive  evidence  for  this  contention.  Development  in 
history  is  not  simple,  but  complex.  As  many  brooks  make 
the  river,  so  many  different  impulses,  sometimes  widely 
apart  in  kind,  place,  and  time,  finally  converge  in  a  great 
change.  The  relation  between  person  and  environment  in 
economical  life  is  also  the  cause  of  grave  dispute.    Political 


ECONOMIC   TEACHINGS   AND   INFLUENCE   OF   LUTHER.  207 

and  intellectual  changes  can  frequently  be  traced  back  to 
their  author.  The  economic  life  and  activities  of  peoples 
seem  to  grow,  often  carrying  man  along  on  their  crest  rather 
than  submitting  to  human  direction.  That  is  seen  strikingly 
in  the  progress  of  inventions.  Watt  did  not  invent  the  steam 
engine  to  change  industry.  For  a  century  English  mining 
industry  had  set  the  task  of  finding  some  mechanical  means 
to  pump  the  water  out  of  the  lower  levels.  As  the  climax 
of  much  experimenting  came  Watt's  reciprocating  engine, 
crude  at  first,  perfected  as  the  exigencies  of  industry  de- 
manded it.  But  though  it  is  difficult,  in  fact,  impossible, 
to  trace  out  in  detail  the  change  in  economic  thought  and 
development  of  the  economic  situation  flowing  out  of  the 
Reformation,  the  broad,  incisive  influence  of  the  Reformation 
on  this  side  of  life  can,  indeed,  amply  be  proved. 

To  some  people  Luther,  the  prophet  of  religious  reform, 
has  become  also  the  final  arbiter  and  authority  in  the  round 
of  secular  interests  that  go  to  make  the  sum  total  of  modern 
life.  He  is  quoted  on  questions  of  government,  of  secular 
education,  of  social  reform,  very  much  in  the  manner  in  which 
in  the  IMiddle  Ages  the  Bible  and  Aristotle  were  called  upon 
to  decide  the  contour  of  the  globe  or  the  history  of  the  Franks. 
It  is  only  natural  that  his  dominating  genius  should  win 
this  unlooked-for  recognition.  However,  it  is  unjust  to  him. 
History  does  not  stand  still.  Generation  learns  from  genera- 
tion, and  each  one  is  feverishly  bent  to  push  on  further  than 
the  preceding.  Any  schoolboy  to-day  knows  more  of  eco- 
nomics than  Adam  Smith  and  more  of  politics  than  Grotius 
or  Burlemaqui.  But  the  schoolboy's  knowledge  does  not 
lessen  the  genius  of  those  men  who  first  clearly  conceived 
the  principles  that  to-day  have  become  common  property. 
The  greatest  man  is  limited  by  the  restrictions  of  his  time, 
and  by  them  must  he  be  measured. 

So  Luther's  thoughts  on  economics  frequently  seem 
crude  to  us  to-day,  who  have  enjoyed  the  experience  of  four 
hundred  years  of  unparalleled  commercial  expansion  and 
industrial    development.      They    are    not    systematized    into 


208  ECONOMIC    TEACHINGS    AND   INFLUENCE   OF   LUTHER. 

a  unity,  but  lie  scattered  throughout  his  writings.  It  is  well 
to  group  them  to  gain  a  clear  survey. 

The  first  great  question  in  economics  is  the  question  of 
production  and  consumption.  Luther's  scheme  of  production 
is  agricultural.  On  the  work  of  the  husbandman  rests  pe- 
culiar blessing.  His  is  the  oldest  activity  of  man  and  still 
the  best.  It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  this  interest  of 
Luther.  His  parents  were  originally  peasants.  He  himself 
had  grown  up  on  the  soil.  Then  agriculture  was  in  Luther's 
day  without  question  the  most  important  pursuit.  Cities 
were  small  and  few.  Perhaps,  ninety  per  cent,  of  all  people 
dwelled  on  the  land,  and  even  the  inhabitants  of  the  cities 
engaged,  in  a  measure,  in  agricultural  pursuits,  as  many 
city  charters  humorously  show  forbidding  above  a  certain 
age  pigs  to  be  turned  loose  in  the  streets,  and  similar  re- 
strictions. 

But  though  Luther  emphasized  agriculture,  he  avoided 
a  mistake  common  in  his  day,  i.  e.,  to  counsel  a  return  to 
the  land,  leaving  all  other  pursuits.  That  was  in  the  pro- 
gram of  many  of  the  radicals  of  those  days  as  it  has  been 
the  panacea  of  so  many  Utopian  reformers  before  and  since. 
According  to  Luther,  the  artisans,  the  merchants,  the  master 
craftsmen,  all  serve  their  useful  purpose  in  the  world,  though 
many  of  their  number  through  selfishness  abuse  the  good 
will  of  their  fellow-beings. 

In  a  progressive  scheme  of  production  a  division  of  labor 
is  essential.  It  first  gives  opportunity  to  develop  the  in- 
dustrial activities  of  a  people  to  their  highest  point  of 
efficiency  by  assigning  to  each  member  of  the  community 
his  specific  task  in  which  he  must  become  proficient.  Adam 
Smith's  classic  example  of  the  English  needle  industry  is 
commonly  cited  in  text-books.  Luther  spoke  no  less  clearly 
on  the  matter  than  did  Adam  Smith,  though  he  used  the 
simple,  homely  language  of  the  common  man  to  point  his 
lesson.  He  draws  his  illustrations  also  from  the  needle 
industry,  not  from  the  makers,  but  from  the  users  of  the 
needle,  the  tailors,  and  states  that  in  France,  where  one 
man   is   assigned  to  the   coat,   another   to   the   vest,   another 


ECONOMIC   TEACHINGS    AND   INFLUENCE   OF   LUTHER.  209 

to  the  trousers,  they  can  do  their  work  much  quicker  and 
better  than  when  one  man  is  obliged  to  make  the  whole  suit. 

Aside  from  the  resources  of  nature  and  the  skill  and 
organization  of  man,  production  rests  on  capital  and  credit. 
Capital  in  modern  days  has  opened  the  bowels  of  the  earth, 
drawing-  forth  her  treasures  for  the  use  of  man.  Capital  has 
reared  the  modern  industrial  city  with  its  dense  population, 
its  busy  factories  multiplying  the  productiveness  of  man 
a  millionfold,  its  wonderful  inventions.  Capital  has  en- 
larged the  narrow  village  outlook  of  man  until  to-day  the 
ends  of  the  world  are  brought  together  as  the  markets  of 
the  industrial  nations.  What  does  Luther  say  of  capital  and 
credit?  The  discussion  of  the  productiveness  of  money  con- 
tinued throughout  the  medieval  canon  law.  Money  was  held 
to  be  unproductive,  and,  therefore,  to  take  interest  was  con- 
sidered sinful.  It  was  with  Roman  churchmen  a  thoroughly 
academic  theory  far  removed  from  the  actual  conditions  of 
life.  But  it  was  the  rule  of  the  all-powerful  Church,  and 
therefore  held  sway.  Luther,  however,  basing  himself  on 
Luke  6,  35,  maintains  that  loans  ought  to  be  granted  freely, 
without  the  charge  of  interest;  for  if  interest  is  taken,  the 
welfare  of  the  neighbor  is  not  sought.  In  like  spirit  he  is 
opposed  to  granting  credit,  and  holds  the  best  state  to  be 
creditless.  If  credit  is  granted,  no  certain  time  ought  to  be 
set  for  repayment,  out  of  consideration  for  the  creditor. 
Later  in  life  Luther  did,  indeed,  concede  that  5  or  6  per  cent, 
interest  might  not  be  absolutely  wrong. 

At  this  point  Luther  has  been  severely  attacked.  And  one 
familiar  in  any  way  with  the  growth  of  modern  industrial 
society  is  not  likely  to  underestimate  the  importance  of 
capital  and  credit  in  bringing  about  the  wonderful  age  of 
iron  and  steel.  But  is  it  historically  justified  to  judge  Luther 
in  the  sixteenth  century  by  the  facts  dominant  in  the 
twentieth?  Hardly.  Loans  in  Luther's  day  were  mostlv 
for  use  and  not  for  investment.  Through  them  the  hard 
lot  of  the  impoverished  peasants  was  made  still  harder. 
Through    them    the    struggling    artisans    wore    drawn    into 

Four  Hundred  Years.  14 


210  ECONOMIC   TEACHINGS    AND   INFLUENCE   OF   LUTHER. 

a  quagmire  of  hopeless  indebtedness.  Luther  lived,  indeed, 
in  the  beginning  of  the  commercial  exx^ansion  and  the 
stupendous  increase  of  money  and  capital.  But  as  is  always 
the  case  in  such  revolutions,  the  evils  are  paramount  at  first. 
Prices  rise  exorbitantly  as  money  becomes  cheap.  The  poor 
bear  the  burden  as  wages  and  returns  for  their  activities 
progress  only  haltingly,  and  the  ready  remedy  for  an  emptj^ 
purse  is  the  usurious  loan,  which  only  makes  their  lot  the 
worse.  To  inveigh  against  such  loans  was,  indeed,  the 
soundest  social  and  economic  policy.  To  see  the  importance 
of  investment  capital  and  credit  in  our  day  requires,  indeed, 
much  technical  study  and  experience.  In  Luther's  day  it 
was  just  beginning  to  be  understood. 

Production  is  carried  on  for  consumption.  The  theory 
of  consumption  materially  affects  the  possibility  of  pro- 
duction. At  this  point  Luther  radically  departed  from  the 
medieval  ideal,  and  the  importance  of  his  departure  cannot 
be  overstated.  The  Middle  Age  conception  was  negative 
over  against  the  world.  It  was  ascetic.  To  forego  the  wealth, 
beauty,  and  comfort  of  the  world  in  self-imposed  poverty 
and  self-inflicted  pain  was  the  theme  written  by  the  Church 
on  every  interest  of  life.  Luther  substituted  for  it  an 
interest  in  the  things  which  God  had  created.  If  God  made 
them,  He  made  them  for  a  good  purpose,  and  man  ought  to 
use  them  according  to  the  will  of  God.  Luther  speaks  out 
against  the  luxury  in  eating  and  drinking  and  clothes,  which 
seems  to  have  been  a  common  evil  of  the  time.  Back  of 
these  warnings  lies,  however,  at  all  times,  that  broad,  well- 
balanced,  healthy  joy  in  the  things  which  the  heavenly 
Father  made  for  the  proper  -use  of  His  children.  Instead  of 
world-flight  as  contained  in  the  ascetic  view,  there  is  con- 
tained here  world-conquest.  That  precisely  has  been  an  un- 
derlying idea  of  liunian  activity  since  the  Peformation,  It 
was  carried  out  by  the  age  of  discoveries,  by  the  progress 
of  science,  by  the  multiplication  of  inventions,  by  the 
development  of  the  economic  resources  of  the  globe.  Back 
of  all  of  them  stands  Luther's  healthy,  sound  view  to  use 
all  the  good  things  of  God's  creation. 


ECOrsOMIC    TEACHINGS    AND   INFLUENCE  OF   LUTHER.  211 

Moreover,  the  positive  theory  of  life  stops  not  with  the 
use  and  consumption  of  things.  It  is  more  potent  even  in 
the  field  of  progressive  production.  If  man  no  more  is  urged 
to  flee  the  world  and  honest  labor  in  a  life  of  fruitless  con- 
templations, what  shall  he  do?  Luther's  answer  is  pointed. 
He  shall  serve  his  God  by  honestly  doing  his  duty  in  what- 
ever calling-  God  has  placed  him.  He  shall  work  in  the  great 
family  of  workers  on  earth  for  the  sake  of  the  common 
welfare  and  the  common  progress.  Be  his  work  ever  so 
humble,  God's  blessing  rests  on  it  if  it  is  faithfully  done. 
There  is  dynamic  in  this  simple  proposition,  the  dynamic 
which  has  inspired  man  in  four  short  centuries  to  advance 
farther  industrially  than  in  all  the  centuries  which  preceded. 

We  turn  now  to  a  discussion  of  the  next  important  di- 
vision of  economics,  a  discussion  of  money  and  exchange, 
and  with  that,  value  and  price.  Ilutten  was  sponsor  for 
a  novel  remedy  to  alleviate  the  social  suffering  of  the  day. 
He  proposed  to  do  away  with  all  money.  With  him  sided 
the  radicals  at  Muenster.  Luther  was  not  in  sympathy  with 
this  proposal.  He  granted  the  useful  purpose  which  money 
serves  in  facilitating  exchange.  He  had,  of  course,  no 
developed  theory  on  the  question  of  standard  or  coinage, 
questions  which  did  not  meet  with  consideration  in  those 
days.  But  Luther  knew  the  evils  of  bad  money  quite  clearly. 
The  right  to  coin  in  those  days  was  a  so-called  regal  or  royal 
prerogative,  granted  at  times  to  princes,  cities,  in  few 
instances  to  merchants.  For  them  it  was  a  welcome  oppor- 
tunity of  gain  to  debase  the  coinage.  Thomas  Gresham 
commonly  receives  credit  for  formulating  the  theory  that 
bad  or  debased  money  invariably  drives  out  good.  Luther 
understands  the  theory  quite  well,  though  he  lived  a  quarter 
of  a  century  before  the  great  English  financier. 

Luther  does  not  see  the  purpose  and  value  of  trade, 
domestic  and  foreign,  as  we  see  it  to-day.  He  stands,  in  that 
respect,  completely  on  the  ground  of  the  schoolmen.  Thoy 
conceived  of  trade  that  one  or  the  other  party  invariably 
was  the  loser.  It  sounds  plausible  enough,  and  is  still  the 
working  principle  of  the  traveling  hucksters  in   Kussia  and 


212  ECONOMIC   TEACHINGS    AND   INFLUENCE  OF   LUTHEE. 

Turkey.  In  a  developed  commercial  community  it  is  quite 
clear,  however,  that  both  parties  are  the  gainers,  and  that 
only  on  that  basis  can  social  life  continue.  Luther  was 
always  more  or  less  suspicious  of  merchants  and  merchant 
transactions,  and  warns  them  time  and  again  of  the  danger 
and  temptations  of  their  calling.  Especially  is  he  opposed 
to  foreign  trade,  which  was  largely  in  the  hands  of  Portugal 
in  his  day.  He  wants  a  law  against  foreign  imports,  and 
believes  the  money  which  travels  out  for  spices,  silks,  and 
other  things  might  much  better  stay  in  Germany.  How 
common  that  sentiment  was  in  those  days  is  seen  from  the 
drastic  action  of  the  Diet  of  Nuremberg,  1522,  which 
actually  forbade  German  merchants  from  going  to  Portugal 

Closely  akin  is  the  question  of  value  and  price.  It  was 
a  sore  spot  in  that  day.  Prices  had  soared  beyond  all  reach 
in  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Spices  especially 
had,  in  instances,  increased  2,000  per  cent,  in  price.  On 
every  hand  arose  complaints  and  demands  for  drastic  action. 
In  response  to  that  popular  excitement  the  Diet  of  Nurem- 
berg took  up  the  matter,  and  appointed  a  commission  very 
much  in  the  way  in  which  our  Government  appoints  com- 
missions to  look  into  the  rise  of  prices.  The  blame  was 
thrown  on  monopolies  and  merchants,  and  Luther  joined  in 
the  common  condemnation.  Some  blame  attaches  to  ther, 
no  doubt;  the  greater,  perhaps,  to  the  high-handed  methods 
and  practises  of  the  monopolists.  A  deeper  and  graver  cause 
for  the  rapid  rise  in  prices  w^as  the  rapid  increase  in  precious 
metals  than  the  development  of  the  Bohemian  and  Saxon 
silver  mines  and  the  influx  of  foreign  gold.  Money  became 
cheap  and  prices  rose.  The  only  remedy  for  the  situation 
was  gradual  readjustment  through  competition.  Luther,  in 
common  with  other  men  of  his  time,  desired  the  government" 
to  fix  prices  according  to  equity.  He  realizes  the  difficulty 
of  determining  "the  equity,"  especially  with  the  continued 
fluctuations  in  the  value  of  one  article  in  comparison  with 
all  others.  But  he  nevertheless  favors  a  definite  state- 
fixed  price. 

The  last  division   in   economics   from   the   social   stand- 


ECONOMIC    TEACHINGS    AND   INFLUENCE   OF   LUTHEE.  213 

point  is  the  most  important.  To  have  the  national  income 
distributed  justly  among  the  groups  that  helped  to  create 
that  income  has  been  the  motive  for  more  than  one  bloody 
rising  in  history.  It  played  a  prominent  role  also  in  the 
popular  upheaval  of  Eeformation  days.  As  for  the  worknien, 
Luther  counsels  maximum  wage  laws,  condemning  the  selfish- 
ness of  the  workers  in  seeking  ever  higher  wages.  Modern 
statistical  investigation  has  brought  out  the  fact  that  the 
better  strategic  position  of  the  employer  invariably  enables 
him  to  take  care  of  himself,  and  that  the  employee  needs 
the  protection  of  the  State  to  enable  him  to  barter  success- 
fully for  a  fair  wage.  However,  this  truism  did  not  become 
accepted  except  through  the  rise  of  the  common  man  to 
a  position  of  comparative  political  and  economic  independ- 
ence which  came  only  within  the  last  century.  The  Refor- 
mation contributed  largely  to  bring  it  about. 

Nor  is  Luther  a  one-sided  defendant  of  the  possessing 
classes.  His  implacable  hatred  of  the  laziness  of  the  clerics 
of  the  old  church  arose  in  religious  interest,  but  its  influence 
was  economic.  It  helped  to  restrict  a  parasitic  class  enjoy- 
ing a  large  income  and  doing  no  labor.  It  was  thus  a  very 
direct  step  toward  a  more  equitable  distribution.  The 
French  Revolution  was  caused  by  the  unfair  division  of 
wealth,  the  clergy  holding  a  major  share.  A  casual  glance 
through  the  grievances  of  the  German  nation  before  the 
Reformation  shows  how  large  an  issue  the  selfsame  question 
was  then. 

In  the  same  way  does  he  speak  against  the  luxury  and 
excesses  of  the  nobility  and  the  wealthy  merchants,  and  he 
holds  up  to  them  the  crying  needs  of  the  poor.  He  wants 
the  wealth  distributed  according  to  need.  With  different 
classes  the  standard  of  living  is  different.  One  needs  more 
than  the  other.    But  their  needs  ought  all  to  be  supplied. 

To  attain  these  reforms  Luther  favors  a  great  extension 
of  state  activities.  Before  the  Reformation  the  Church  in 
its  external  and  internal  courts  had  dealt  with  many  of  the~e 
questions  such  as  usury,  just  prices,  and  others.  In  Luther's 
conception  of  things  the   Church  had  nothing  to   do  with 


214  ECONOMIC    TEACHINGS    AND   INFLUENCE   OF   LUTHER. 

them,  as  they  were  purely  secular.  In  its  place  stepped  the 
State.  It  ought  to  control  prices.  In  order  to  do  that  the 
better,  it  can  itself  buy  up  large  quantities  of  food,  and 
store  them  to  throw  them  on  the  market  when  prices  are 
high.  The  example  of  Joseph's  corn  monopoly  in  Egypt 
wins  his  unqualified  approval,  and  he  believes  the  same 
policy  quite  feasible  in  his  day,  as,  indeed,  it  was,  for  in 
many  cases  cities  did  store  grain  to  put  it  on  the  market 
in  times  of  scarcity.  In  like  manner  the  State  shall  control 
wages  and  labor,  determining  them  justly  for  all  parties 
concerned.  Lastly,  consumption  shall  fall  under  the  control 
of  the  State.  It  shall  curtail  excessive  eating  and  drinking, 
the  squandering  of  money  on  household  and  clothing,  forbid 
the  import  of  too  many  luxuries,  and  in  every  way  see  that 
its  citizens  lead  a  frugal,  well-regulat?d  life.  The  money 
derived  from  the  secularization  of  monastic  properties  Luther 
wants  the  State  to  use  for  building  up  bridges,  roads,  public 
buildings,  and  the  education  of  the  young. 

In  the  reform  programs  of  Reformation  days,  and  before, 
communism  played  a  very  important  role.  Luther  never 
was  greatly  impressed  w^ith  the  idea.  He  did  not  agree  with 
the  claim  that  it  is  Christian.  He  pointed  out  that  the 
early  Jerusalem  communism  was  not  obligatory,  and  there- 
fore could  not  be  adduced  as  a  binding  rule.  He  points  out 
that  Christ  had  private  property.  As  a  practical  question 
Luther  considers  communism  the  mortal  enemy  of  honest 
labor. 

It  remains  to  point  to  some  larger  considerations  involved 
in  the  question,  and  sum  up.  The  discovery  and  colonization 
of  foreign  lands  was  a  vers^  prominent  cause  in  that  great 
economic  activity  following  the  Reformation.  Hand  in 
hand  with  it  went  the  increase  of  precious  metals,  which  was 
so  necessary  to  finance  the  large  undertakings  characteristic 
of  modern  industry.  Earlier  than'  these  was  the  use  of  the 
national  spirit,  and  the  gradual  growth  of  national  organiza- 
tion and  laws  to  foster  the  industries  of  the  various  coun- 
tries. These  three  factors  were  active  before  the  Reforma- 
tion, and  in  a  measure  contributed  to  the  success  of  the 
Reformation  movement. 


LUTHER    A    I.OVKR    OF    XATIHK.  215 

The  definite  organic  break  with  the  old  system  did  not 
come,  however,  until  Luther  burned  the  i^apal  laws  before 
the  Elster  Gate  in  1520.  The  ohl  Church  was  not  an  intel- 
lectual or  theological  system.  It  was  mu  organized  State 
superimposed  upon  the  civil  State,  chiiming  precedence,  and 
arrogating  final  control  over  every  interest  that  may  enter 
the  human  breast.  Its  spirit  was  reactionary  and  other- 
worldly, its  ideals  thoroughly  impractical.  If  progress  in 
harnessing  this  world  to  useful  purpose  should  come,  it  could 
come  only  upon  its  ruin.  There  lies  the  great  contribution 
of  Luther  to  the  economic  advance  of  the  world.  It  is  not 
lessened  by  the  fact  that  other  currents,  strong  currents, 
were  converging  toward  that  point.  It  is  not  lessened  by 
the  mnny  traces  of  medievalism  in  his  economic  thought 
which  make  him  a  true  son  of  his  time.  It  is  not  lessene  1 
by  the  host  of  others  who  thought  and  planned  and  worked 
with  him  to  the  same  end.  He  was  the  leader,  the  eldest 
son  of  a  tempestuously  great  period.  He  stepped  out  of 
a  world  of  fanciful  dreams  and  romantic  exploits  into  a  world 
of  useful  purpose.  And  as  the  world  ever  gives  greater  honor 
to  the  pioneer  who  bears  the  danger  and  hardships  of  un- 
explored lands  than  to  the  settler  who  succeeds  him,  so  the 
greater  honor  belongs  not  to  these  later  generations  who 
carried  on  their  shoulders  the  industrial  advance  of  the 
world.  It  belongs  to  him  who  blazed  the  trail:  Martin 
Luther. 


Luther  a  Lover  of  Nature. 

Rev.  J.  \V.  Theiss,  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

It  would  have  been  a  psychological  phenomenon  had 
a  mind  as  broad  as  Luther's  and  gifted  with  such  unusual 
versatility,  shown  no  interest  in  the  pages  of  God's  wonderful 
book  of  nature,  had  the  starry  vault  of  heaven,  the  velvet 
of  the  lily,  and  the  glow  of  the  rose  never  spoken  to  him 
the  silent,  but  eloquent  language  of  the  almighty  God. 

But   we  need  not  guess   at   Luther's  love   of   nature,  for 


216  I.UTHER  A  LOVER   OF   NATURE. 

it  is  sufficiently  recorded  by  contemporary  writers,  and  is 
evident,  above  all,  from  the  v^a-itings  of  the  Refornier. 

Luther  knew  nature.  We  must  not  judge  of  his  knowledge 
of  nature  by  merely  thinking  of  the  scenery  which  he  saw 
on  his  journey  to  Italy,  his  travels  through  Southern  Ger- 
many, his  visit  to  beautiful  Heidelberg,  and  his  forced 
stay  in  the  lofty  Wartburg  and  the  castle  of  Coburg,  but  we 
must  take  into  account  his  keenness  of  observation  and  the 
nature  of  his  hibors  in  studying  and  translating  the  Bible, 
which  is  brimful  of  nature-references. 

JSTow  as  to  the  countries  he  saw,  —  beautiful  Italy,  the 
lofty  Alps,  the  romantic  Thuringia,  in  whose  woods  and  fields 
he  roved  after  school  with  his  well-beloved  brother  Jacob,  — 
it  is  true,  he  saw  them  mostly  at  a  time  when  his  mind  was 
filled  with  grave  theological  thoughts,  when  he  endured  in- 
ward conflicts  and  outward  strife,  and  was  in  no  mood  to 
fully  contemplate  and  enjoy  nature.  He  had  the  same  ex- 
perience as  our  American  pioneers,  who  almost  overlooked 
the  surrounding  beauties  of  nature  because  their  minds 
were  bent  on  keeping  the  wolf  from  their  doors,  and  their 
eyes  were  searching  for  the  lurking  Indians  instead  of  the 
flowers  in  the  woods. 

Still,  the  writings  of  Luther  show  that  even  this  stormy 
period  of  his  life  did  not  completely  exclude  his  "communion 
with  the  visible  forms"  of  nature.  His  comparatively  more 
quiet  years,  however,  when  he  lived  his  married  life  in  the 
cloister  by  the  city-moat  of  Wittenberg  and  tilled  his  own 
garden,  or  betook  himself  to  his  "little  oasis,"  or  to  the 
little  farm  at  Zuelsdorf,  made  up  for  this  loss,  and  many 
a  moment  was  then  given  to  observing  the  wonders  of  nature, 
and  to  praising  the  power  of  God  in  every  blade  of  grass. 

As  to  his  task  of  translating  the  Bible,  with  all  the 
mention  of  so  many  birds,  beasts,  insects,  flowers,  and  trees, 
it  could  not  but  rouse  his  attention  to  nature  round  about 
him,  and  lead  him  to  compare  Oriental  plants  and  animals 
with  those  of  Germany. 

In  fact,  to  find  a  correct  translation  for  some  Hebrew 
words  designating  flowers,  etc.,  often  gave  Luther  considerable 


LUTHER  A  LOVER  OF  NATURE.  217 

trouble.  On  one  occasion  his  knowledge  of  tlie  hyacinth  is 
too  limited.  He  is  puzzled  because  the  Bible  speaks  of  its 
color  as  being  blue,  whilst  Luther  is  acquainted  with  none 
but  the  yellow  kind.  On  another  occasion  he  blankly  con- 
fesses his  ignorance  of  a  certain  root  mentioned  in  the 
Hebrew  text.  Now  all  these  many  occasions  for  weighin,'^' 
terms  and  finding  accurate  translations  were  certainly  con- 
ducive to  close  observation  and  nature-stud^'. 

Just  to  illustrate  how  often  he  mentions  nature,  and 
how  remarkably  well  he  knew  it,  take,  for  example,  what  he 
says  of  birds.  The  swallow  he  describes  as  to  its  color,  its 
noisy  twitter,  its  uselessness,  and  its  aggressiveness;  "for," 
says  he,  "it  molests  the  cows."  Of  the  sparrows  he  says  that 
they  are  a  very  pest  to  the  peasants,  robbing,  stealing,  de- 
vouring anything  they  can  lay  hold  of:  oats,  barley,  wheat, 
rye,  apples,  pears,  cherries,  and  so  on;  birds  that  rapidly 
multiply,  and  whose  entire  song  consists  of  "Scrip,  scirp." 
The  cuckoo  he  describes  as  a  dirty  bird,  which  sucks  the  eggs 
of  other  birds,  lays  his  own  into  their  nests,  and  expects  them 
to  hatch  them.  The  call  of  the  cuckoo  is  merely  his  own 
name,  whilst  his  habitat  is  generally  found  where  the 
lark  is.  Of  the  peacock  he  reports  that  it  is  a  very  jealous 
bird,  and  he  classes  it  with  doves,  pheasants,  siskins,  finches, 
wrens,  thistle-birds,  robins,  and  thrushes  among  the  "proud 
birds."  Of  crows  and  blackbirds  he  gives  it  as  his  opinion 
that  they  enjoy  their  own  cawing.  He  shows  how  birds 
during  winter  lie  apparently  dead  in  nests,  stone-rifts,  crev- 
ices, and  hollow  places  along  river  banks,  till  spring  calls 
them  to  new  life.  He  tells  of  the  ostrich  how  hard-hearted 
it  is,  not  attending  to  hatching  or  tending  of  its  offspring, 
and  how  it  hides  its  head  in  the  sand.  He  knows  how  owls 
and  bats  shun  the  light,  and  how  the  magpie,  by  persistent 
effort,  is  taught  to  talk.  He  speaks  of  the  filthy  nest  of  the 
hoopoe  and  of  the  cleanness  of  the  dove.  He  describes 
pigeons  "with  white  shining  wings  like  silver,  but  beauti- 
fully green  and  golden  on  the  back,  where  the  wings  meet, 
birds  without  meanness."  He  mentions  the  keen  eyes  of 
the  falcon  and  the  circling  of  the  hawk,  who  tries  to  take 


218  LUTHER   A   LOVER   OF    NATURE. 

the  chicks  that  hide  under  their  mother's  wings.  He  has 
watched  the  buzzard  looking  for  carrion,  and  has  seen  the 
pigeon,  sparrow,  chicken,  and  yellow-breast  pick  up  the  seed 
of  the  sower  from  the  furrows.  He  is  acquainted  with  the 
sweet  song  of  the  birds  and  also  with  the  senseless  chatter 
of  the  parrot.  He  knows  well  the  fowler's  art,  who  snares 
the  birds  with  nets,  grain,  and  decoy-birds. 

Space  forbids  the  enumeration  of  the  multitude  of  things 
in  nature  mentioned  in  Luther's  writings.  He  has  watched 
the  clumsiness  of  cows  and  the  helpless  movements  of  hogs, 
eager  to  feed,  which  finally  fall  into  the  trough.  He  has 
noticed  how  spiders  catch  flies,  and  how  they  extract  poison 
from  the  very  rose  which  yields  honey  to  the  bee.  He  knows 
the  gentleness  and  helplessness  of  sheep,  and  minutely  de- 
scribes their  ways. 

And  as  he  studies  animals,  so  likewise  plants.  He  knows 
the  labor  of  the  peasant  and  the  task  of  the  wine-grower,  the 
preparation  of  the  soil,  the  pruning  and  suckering  of  vines. 
He  expresses  his  surprise  how  the  bare  country  around  Wit- 
tenberg produces  good  wine,  and  how  flowers  which  cling 
to  the  naked  rock  yield  honey  to  the  bee.  In  short,  the 
observant  reader  of  Luther's  w^orks  cannot  but  notice  how 
well  the  Reformer  is  acquainted  with  nature. 

Just  one  example  to  show  how  closely  he  observes.  Of 
hens  he  writes :  "There  is  no  other  bird,  indeed,  scarcely  any 
other  animal,  which  so  warmly  and  seriously  takes  care  of 
its  young  ones,  or  chicks,  as  does  the  hen.  Behold  how  she 
lives  and  acts  for  her  chicks,  how  she  even  changes  her  voice 
and  the  way  of  calling  them  when  she  leads  them.  See  how 
she  behaves  and  spreads  her  wings,  when  you  come  near 
her  chicks,  yea,  how  she  flies  at  you.  No  other  animal  has 
such  warmth  of  heart  as  the  hen." 

But  Luther's  eyes  have  not  only  seen  these  smaller  things 
in  nature,  (luite  often  he  also  speaks  of  the  most  majestic 
handiworks  of  the  Creator:  the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the 
stars,  the  mountains  and  the  clouds,  the  eclipses,  the  thunder- 
storms, the  tides,  and  the  earthquakes. 

But    how    did    Luther    regard    nature?      Was    his    mind 


LUTHER   A   LOVER   OF    NATURE.  219 

poisoned  with  the  hypotheses  of  a  spurious  science  which 
tries  to  deprive  the  Creator  of  His  glory,  and  put  a  halo 
around  mud  ?  By  no  means.  Luther  regards  nature  not  as 
an  independent  force,  but  as  a  creature  obeying  God,  always 
and  everywhere  under  His  rule  and  guidance.  He  does  not, 
like  some  of  our  foolish-wise  naturalists,  hold  the  "laws  of 
nature"  to  be  unchangeable  regulations  to  which  God  Him- 
self must  submit,  but  merely  rules  of  His  own  sovereign 
devising,  according  to  which  He  ordinarily  guides  the  uni- 
verse, but  which  He  at  once  with  sovereign  power  casts  aside 
when  they  do  not  suit  His  purposes. 

Speaking  of  the  solid  mountains  and  the  mighty  sea, 
Luther  exclaims:  "God  possesses  the  art  of  drying  up  the 
ocean,  as  though  a  bridge  were  thrown  across  it,  and  to  make 
the  soft  water  as  hard  as  a  wall,  whilst,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  mountains  become  as  soft  as  a  lake  or  river." 

That  nature  is  God's  creation,  a  manifestation  of  His 
power,  wisdom,  and  goodness,  a  precious  gift  even  now,  after 
it  has  been  sadly  marred  by  sin,  is  the  underlying  thought 
of  Luther's  love  of  nature.  This  love  is  no  idolatry,  no  mis- 
guided worship  of  blind  forces,  but  a  healthy,  noble,  reverent 
way  of  looking  at  God's  creation.  He  truly  "looks  through 
nature  up  to  nature's  God,"  and  this  clear  vision  in  the 
light  of  the  Word  of  God  makes  his  utterances  regarding 
nature  sane  and  safe. 

Luther's  writings  so  abound  with  splendid  passages  show- 
ing how  he  sees  God's  handiwork  in  all  nature  that  it  is 
difficult  for  that  reason  to  make  merely  a  selection.  .  See 
how  reverently  he  speaks  of  this  matter  in  the  following 
words:  "In  short,  in  all,  even  the  smallest  of  creatures,  yea, 
in  their  members  also,  the  omnipotence  of  God  is  plainly 
seen,  and  great  miracles  are  laid  before  us.  For  what  man, 
be  he  ever  so  powerful,  wise,  or  holy,  can  bring  forth  a  fig- 
tree  out  of  a  fig,  or  make  one  fig  out  of  another,  or  from 
one  cherry-stone  make  another  or  create  a  cherry-tree?  Or 
how  can  he  even  know  how  God  creates,  preserves,  and  multi- 
plies everything?" 

Again  he  says :   "One  cannot  grasp  God,  and  yet  one  feels 


220  I.UTHER   A   LOVER   OF    XATURE. 

His  presence,  for  everywhere  He  shows  Himself  and  makes 
Himself  known,  and  He  proves  Himself  a  benevolent  Creator, 
who  blesses  us  with  all  good  gifts,  to  which  sun  and  moon, 
heaven  and  earth,  and  all  the  fruits  of  the  soil  bear  witness." 

Because  Luther  so  clearly  beholds  God  in  nature,  he  is 
convinced  that  it  is  the  duty  of  every  creature  to  praise  the 
Lord.  The  Christian's  principal  aim  and  purpose,  he  says, 
should  be  to  praise  God,  to  magnify  Him  "as  the  sole  Creator 
and  the  Lord  of  all  that  is  in  heaven  and  earth;  not  only 
because  He  has  created  us,  but  because  He  has  made  every- 
thing for  our  service  and  benefit.  Sun  and  moon  must  give 
us  light  by  day  and  night;  the  heavens  must  give  us  rain, 
clouds,  shade,  and  dew;  the  earth  must  yield  us  various 
plants  and  animals ;  the  water  must  provide  us  with  fish 
and  countless  necessities;  the  air  must  give  us  fowls  and 
our  breath;  the  fire  must  warm  us,  and  serve  us  in  many 
other  ways.  And  who  can  enumerate  all  gifts  of  God?  One 
cannot  better  state  them,  nor  otherwise,  than  in  these  brief 
words :  "The  works  of  the  Lord  are  great."  Luther  is  sure 
that  the  works  and  benefits  of  God  cannot  be  counted  "though 
one  would  count  from  now  on  to  all  eternity,"  and  cannot  be 
named  "though  all  leaves  and  blades  of  grass  were  tongues." 

At  the  same  time  he  knows  well  that  nature  now,  in 
consequence  of  the  fall  of  man,  is  greatly  corrupted  and 
not  as  beautiful  as  when  it  came  from  the  hands  of  the 
Creator.  Of  the  sun,  of  whose  glory  he  so  often  speaks  in 
glowing  terms,  he  makes  this  remarkable  statement :  "The 
sun  is  not  at  all  as  pretty,  bright  and  clear  now  as  it  was 
when  it  was  created,  but  through  man's  fault  is  about  half 
dark,  rusty,  and  soiled."  He  is  convinced  that  on  Judgment 
Day  God  will  cleanse  and  burnish  the  sun  "that  it  will  be 
brighter  and  clearer  than  in  the  beginning." 

Despite  all  the  ravages  which  sin  has  made  on  nature, 
Luther  is  sure  that  it  still  speaks  to  us  of  God,  that  it  is 
worthy  of  daily  contemplation,  and  that  the  book  of  nature 
contains  many  lessons  for  us  all.  He  admonishes  us  to  learn 
the  articles  of  resurrection  when  we  see  the  sower  casting 
seed  into  the  ground,  which  becomes  grain  in  due  time.     He 


JLUTHER   A   LOVER   OF    NATURE.  221 

writes:  "With  this  farming-  which  I  am  now  doing,  with 
my  sowing  and  pUmting,  God  would  teach  me  the  work 
which  He  will  some  time  perform  upon  me." 

The  testimony  which  nature  gives  to  the  existence  and 
benevolence  of  God,  according  to  Luther,  loudly  cries  out 
against  unbelief.  lie  writes:  "In  such  a  weighty  matter 
little  testimony  or  small  witnesses  would  not  be  sufficient; 
here  the  beautiful,  high,  lofty  heavens  with  the  noble  sun 
and  moon  and  all  the  stars  must  take  the  stand.  Here  also 
the  earth  with  all  her  plants,  with  all  birds  and  beasts,  and 
the  great  wide  sea  with  all  its  fish,  and  everything  that  stirs 
therein,  must  appear  for  their  God,  and  give  testimony 
against  the  ungodly  to  uphold  His  divine  glory  and  justice, 
and  to  confirm  His  judgments." 

Luther  shows  that  human  reason  and  wisdom  can  yet  of 
itself  get  so  far  that  it  argues,  "although  feebly,"  that  there 
must  be  one,  eternal,  divine  being  which  has  created  all 
things,  governs  and  preserves  them,  because  there  are  such 
excellent  creatures  in  heaven  and  earth,  so  wonderful,  orderly, 
and  firmly  established,  moved  and  governed  by  His  hand. 
Reason  must,  says  he,  admit  that  they  did  not  get  there 
by  accident,  and  that  they  cannot  move  of  their  own 
accord,  but  that  there  must  needs  be  a  Creator  and  Lord 
by  whom  all  things  are  made  and  governed  as  St.  Paul  shows 
Rom.  1,  20.  He  is  therefore  quite  sure  that  all  who  live 
and  breathe,  and  fail  to  perceive  their  God,  are  without 
excuse  for  their  agnosticism.  He  tersely  says :  "There  is 
no  cow.  no  calf,  no  sheep,  when  it  bawls  and  bellows,  thit 
does  not  bawl  over  all  the  godless  as  over  God's  enemies, 
who  are  not  worthy  to  enjoy  them  to  their  benefit,  yea,  to 
eat  a  single  morsel  of  bread,  or  to  take  a  drink  of  water." 
He  exclaims:  "O  God,  what  a  fearful  and  terrible  judgment 
will  befall  the  world  because  it  does  not  see  these  miracles ! 
Xote  at  this  point  what  the  world  really  is,  what  a  devilish- 
thing  it  is !  It  is  hardened  and  deluded,  and  does  not  see 
God's  miracles." 

Luther  is  angered  at  the  ungodly  world,  which  denies  the 
Creator.     The  fall  of  man,  he  points  f)ut,  is  re-ponsible  f<ir 


222  I.UTHER   A   LOVER   OF    NATURE. 

man's  deplorable  blindness.  He  gives  vent  to  his  feelings 
in  these  pathetic  words :  "The  world,  after  the  fall  of  Adam, 
knows  neither  God  nor  the  creatures,  lives  in  all  things 
contrary  to  the  glory  of  God,  praises,  honors,  and  glorifies 
Him  not.  O  what  fine,  beautiful,  cheering  thoughts  man 
would  have  had  if  he  had  not  fallen!  How  he  would  have 
beheld  God  in  all  creatures !  Even  in  the  smallest  and  most 
ordinary  flowers  he  w^ould  have  contemplated  God's  omnip- 
otence, wisdom,  and  benevolence."  Adam  and  all  his  chil- 
dren, Luther  says,  might  have  rejoiced  over  the  creation,  but 
"on  account  of  the  miserable,  ruinous  fall  of  man  there  is 
no  such  rejoicing;  on  the  contrary,  the  Creator  is  blasphemed 
and  dishonored." 

Luther  believes  that  the  right  and  reverent  contemplation 
of  nature  is  decreasing  more  and  more  as  sin  increases  and 
the  end  of  the  world  draws  near.  He  thinks  that  people 
before  the  Flood  enjoyed  nature  better  than  is  done  now. 
Speaking  of  the  Antediluvian  people,  he  remarks :  "They 
diligently  contemplated  God's  creatures,  both  in  heaven  and 
on  earth,  and  took  great  pleasure  in  them.  Then  there  was 
m(!)re  delight  in  a  fresh,  cool  spring  of  w^ater  than  there  is 
now  in  the  choicest  of  wines." 

Nature  is  crippled  by  sin,  and  man,  who  was  fully  to  enjoy 
it,  has  fallen  into  sin;  but  nature  shall  be  renewed  and 
glorified.  Luther,  in  strong  faith  and  ardent  hope,  writes : 
"How  beautiful  our  Lord  and  God  has  created  this  perish- 
able temporal  kingdom,  to  w^it,  heaven  and  earth,  and  all 
that  it  contains!  How  much  more  beautiful  will  He  make 
that  incorruptible,  eternal  kingdom !"  And  this  glorious 
new  creation  will  never  be  subjected  to  misuse  by  world  or 
devil.     The  groaning  of  nature  will  be  at  an  end. 

^Meanwhile  we  Christians  will  patiently  wait  and  enjoy 
nature  in  its  present  form  as  well  as  we  may;  indeed,  Luther 
says  that  the  Christian  alone  can  rightly  enjoy  nature. 

Luther  is  certainly  a  model  to  us  in  this  sane  Christian 
enjoyment,  which  consists  in  loving  nature  as  God's  gift 
to  man,  but  puts  the  love  of  God  and  the  worship  of  the 
Creator  far,  far  above  it.     He  says:    "All  other  things  are 


LUTHER  A  LOVER  OF  NATURE.  223 

but  chaff  when  compared  with  Christ,  the  Son  of  God.  For 
lie  has  created  the  heavens,  the  earth,  and  all  creatures, 
whereof  one  might  fitly  sing  and  rejoice."  Again  he  says: 
"Now,  if  I  keep  this  in  mind  that  God's  Son  was  made 
man,  and  if  I  believe  in  Him,  then  all  creatures  appear 
n  liinidredfold  more  beautiful  than  they  now  do.  You 
will  truly  understand  what  the  sun,  moon,  stars,  trees,  apples, 
and  pears  are  if  you  understand  that  He  is  Lord,  and  that 
everything  is  concerned  with  Him." 

The  "origin  of  the  species,"  which  is  such  a  stumbling- 
block  to  the  ungodly  scientist,  is  to  Luther  not  a  mystery 
that  he  tries  to  solve  by  some  silly  hypothesis,  but  as  clear 
as  daylight:  it  is  an  arrangement  of  the  Creator;  and  the 
continuance  of  the  species  is  to  Luther's  mind  an  evidence 
that  there  is  an  overruling  Providence.  He  writes:  "A  cow 
always  brings  forth  a  cow,  a  horse,  a  horse,  etc.  ISTo  cow 
gives  birth  to  a  horse,  nor  a  horse  to  a  cow.  Therefore  it 
must  incontrovertibly  follow  that  there  is  something  which 
governs  all  things.  We  can  easily  apprehend  God  from  the 
sure  and  unchangeable  movement,  course,  and  circling  of 
the  stars  of  heaven." 

Luther  calls  it  a  satanic  delusion  when  people  think  they 
must  search  out  with  their  benighted  reason  those  things 
which  God  has  clearly  revealed.  In  speaking  of  the  mystery 
of  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  he  says:  "Thus  does  Satan 
blind  people  that  they  cannot  rightly  see  any  work  of  God; 
again,  that  they  do  pay  attention  to  the  Word,  but  would 
comprehend  everything  with  their  finite  minds."  This  is 
both  sinful  and  foolish,  says  Luther,  because  it  is  absolutely 
impossible.  He  says:  "Should  you  thoroughly  examine  into 
a  single  grain  of  seed  in  the  field,  the  shock,  as  it  were,  of 
admiration  would  take  your  life's  breath  away.  God's  works 
are  so  infinitely  superior  to  ours."  All  these  remarks  of 
Luther  tend  to  show  us  that  he  does  not  at  all  agree  with 
the  modern  infidel  scientist,  but  sees  nature  as  a  simple, 
reverent  child  of  God. 

Hearing  all  these  expressions  of  Luther's  nature-loving, 
pious  heart,  the  question  is  easily  answered  whether  or  not 


224  I.UTHER  A  LOVER  OF   NATURE. 

Lutlier  loved  nature,  and  it  remains  only  to  notice  in  what 
manner  he  gave  expression  to  it. 

Lnther  was  first  and  always  a  theologian,  and  does  not 
give  expression  to  his  love  of  nature  in  every  instance  where 
a  superficial  student  of  the  Bible  would  expect  it,  e.  g.,  in 
his  commentary  on  the  19th  Psalm.  Here  the  reader  might 
expect  to  find  some  glowing  eulogy  of  nature.  He  will  be 
disappointed,  because  Luther,  as  a  trusty  theologian,  shows 
that  these  words  of  God  do  not  treat  of  nature,  but  of  the 
far  grander  glory  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  whose 
splendor  outshines  all  the  sunrises  man  ever  beheld. 

Luther's  love  of  nature  is  throughout  in  due  subjection 
to  his  theology,  and  his  knowledge  of  nature  is  fitly  employed 
to  illustrate  the  power  of  the  Almighty.  How  great  his  love 
of  nature  was  is  readily  seen  from  this  remark:  "I  believe 
that  in  the  life  to  come  we  shall  have  nothing  else  to  do  than 
to  ponder  over  and  admire  our  Creator  and  His  creatures." 
Here  in  life  Luther  often  lacked  the  time  to  fully  indulge 
in  his  love  of  nature.  The  busj^,  overburdened  theologian, 
who  constantly  studied,  who  preached  thousands  of  sermons, 
translated  the  entire  Bible,  wrote  great  numbers  of  books, 
and  in  letters  and  otherwise  counseled  hundreds  of  people, 
could  rarely  go  out  into  the  realm  of  nature  merely  to  rest, 
or  to  enjoy  and  to  drink  in  its  beauty,  and  we  hear  of  but 
one  instance  where  he  went  into  the  forest  just  to  enjoy  it. 

But  Luther's  love  of  nature,  nevertheless,  shows  itself  in 
many  ways.  Besides  hundreds  of  direct  references  to  nature, 
we  often  meet  with  splendid  comparisons  drawn  from  nature 
in  his  writings.  The  Bible,  e.  g.,  he  fitly  compares  to  rain, 
which  moistens  and  refreshes  the  earth;  to  a  fountain,  from 
which  we  draw  living  water;  to  a  tree,  which  has  branches, 
limbs,  and  twigs  full  of  luscious  fruit.  He  tells  us  that 
he  had  "knocked  against  every  tree  of  this  forest,  and  had 
plucked  and  shaken  from  it  a  few  apples  and  pears." 

In  another  passage  he  says  of  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel, 
as  well  as  of  the  disappointments  connected  with  it,  that  it 
is  "like  the  trees  in  springtime,  when  every  branch  is  full 
of  blossoms,  and  people  wonder  how  they  would  be  able  to 


liUTHER  A  LOVER  OF   NATURE.  225 

store  all  the  expected  fruit,  till  a  rain  comes  upon  them,  and 
the  wind  knocks  off  nine-tenths  of  the  blossoms,  and  the 
remaining  tenth  is  partly  worm-eaten." 

One  excellent  comparison  he  draws  in  these  words :  "When 
the  sun  rises  and  darkens  [outshines]  the  moon,  that  moon 
and  stars  lose  their  brightness,  yea,  are  seen  no  longer  during 
the  day,  because  the  light  of  the  sun  is  too  great  in  compari- 
son. Moon  and  stars  would  gladly  give  us  their  light,  but 
the  sun  with  his  glare  and  brightness  is  too  strong  for  them. 
Thus  it  is  also  in  this  matter:  the  prophets  are  the  stars 
and  the  moon,  but  Christ  is  the  Sun,  and  wherever  He 
appears,  preaches,  and  shines.  His  Word  is  of  such  importance 
that  the  others  seem  as  nothing  in  comparison  and  are  not 
seen  aside  of  Him,  although  the  moon  and  the  stars  also 
shine  very  brightly.  Thus  Moses,  the  Law,  and  the  prophets 
are  indeed  learned  and  fine  preachers,  but  compared  with 
the  preaching  of  Christ  they  amount  to  nothing."  These 
and  a  hundred  other  fine  comparisons  from  nature  show 
how  lovingly  Luther's  mind  dwelt  upon  God's  creation. 

In  three  renowned  letters,  one  of  them  written  to 
Dr.  Brueck,  another  to  his  family,  while  he  watched  the 
proceedings  at  Augsburg  from  his  seclusion  on  the  Coburg, 
and  the  third  to  his  beloved  son  Haenschen,  he  resorts 
altogether  to  nature. 

In  the  letter  to  Dr.  Brueck  he  speaks  of  stars  and  the 
vault  of  heaven  and  the  clouds  as  being  upheld  by  the  hand 
of  the  Almighty,  showing  Dr.  Brueck  that  God  would  like- 
wise uphold  the  cause  of  the  Reformation  without  human  aid. 

In  the  letter  to  his  family  written  at  Coburg,  he  face- 
tiously likens  the  great  conclave  at  Augsburg  to  a  gathering 
of  blackbirds,  which  he  noticed  from  his  window  in  the 
castle,  and  he  goes  into  a  lengthy  description  of  their  doings. 

In  the  letter  to  his  Haenschen  he  seeks  to  give  his  little 
hoy  joy,  and  draws  for  him  the  very  finest  picture  of  child- 
like happiness  he  can  possibly  find,  and  it  results  in  a  nature- 
essay  —  a  garden  "with  beautiful  apples,  pears,  cherries,  and 
plums,"  and  "a  mossy  place  in  the  middle  of  the  garden  for 

Four  Hundred  Years.  15 


226  LUTHEE  A  LOVEE  OF   NATUEE. 

the  children  to  skip  about."  Do  not  these  letters  argue  that 
Luther  was  at  heart  an  ardent  lover  of  nature? 

If  proof  were  wanting,  the  culture  of  his  own  garden  at 
Wittenberg  and  Zuelsdorf,  where  he  sowed  and  planted  for 
his  recreation,  would  certainly  show  his  love  of  nature.  Once 
he  asks  his  friend  Link  at  Nuremberg  to  send  various  kinds 
of  seed,  and  reports  how  his  cucumbers  and  melons  thrive 
"in  spite  of  Duke  George  of  Saxony  and  King  Henry  of 
England,"  as  he  playfully  adds.  Again  he  asks  Link  to 
send  him  a  few  pomegranates.  To  Spalatin  he  writes: 
"I  have  made  a  garden  and  have  dug  a  well.  Come,  and 
you  shall  be  crowned  with  roses  and  lilies."  So  here  is  true 
love  of  nature. 

This  is  further  evidenced  by  his  choice  of  a  pleasure- 
ground,  as  we  might  call  it.  Wittenberg  itself  was  not 
a  beautiful  or  romantic  town,  and  the  surroundings  were  not 
inviting.  Myconius  says  of  Wittenberg  that  it  had  "small, 
old,  ugly,  low,  wooden  houses,  and  resembled  a  village  rather 
than  a  city."  Luther  himself  writes:  "Wittenberg  lies  at 
the  very  outskirts  of  civilization;  if  it  had  gone  a  little 
beyond,  they  would  have  been  in  the  midst  of  Barbary." 
He  joked  about  the  sandhills,  and  wondered  how  God  was 
able  to  bring  forth  out  of  the  rock  corn  and  good  wine. 
Yet  his  love  of  nature  helped  him  even  here  to  find  a  charming 
oasis  in  the  midst  of  the  desert,  a  place  now  called  Luther's 
Well.  A  hill  near  the  Elbe  River,  a  mile  or  more  from  the 
Elster  Gate,  where  a  spring  of  the  purest  water  bubbled,  so 
pleased  Luther  that  he  eventually  built  him  a  small  house 
there,  and  resorted  occasionally  to  it  for  his  studies,  or  to 
spend  an  hour  with  his  friends. 

Luther's  love  of  nature  never  flagged.  His  last  sermon, 
held  at  Eisleben  a  few  days  before  his  death,  is  still  rich  in 
nature-love,  and  shows  him  to  be  a  splendid  observer  and 
admirer  of  God's  handiwork. 

To  summarize,  then,  the  attitude  of  Dr.  Martin  Luther 
towards  nature:  Luther  is  not  a  naturalist  like  Audubon, 
Thoreau,  or  Muir,  not  a  devotee  of  nature  and  dreamer  like 
Wordsworth,  Bryant,  or  Eichendorff,  but  a  sane  Christian 


MUSIC    AXD    THE   REFORM ATIOX.  227 

lover  of  nature,  who  is,  first  of  all,  a  theologian,  and  who 
looks  upon  the  book  of  nature  as  written  by  the  hand  of 
Almighty  God  to  teach  us  His  power,  wisdom,  and  goodness. 
Luther  is  a  true  lover  of  nature;  for  him  nothing  in  nature 
is  too  small  to  admire,  and  to  him  the  heavens  and  the  earth, 
the  stars  and  the  sea,  the  forests  and  the  flowers  of  the  field, 
the  birds  and  the  waving  blades  of  grass  alike  sing  the  praises 
of  Almightj''  God. 


Music  and  the  Reformation. 

Prof.  Paul  Keuter,  Teachers'  Seminary,  beward,  Nebr. 

The  children  of  God  have  from  time  immemorial  ex- 
pressed their  religious  emotions  through  the  tonal  art.  It 
was  the  language  in  which  the  Israelites  addressed  Jehovah, 
playing  cymbals,  psalteries,  and  harps,  and  lifting  up  their 
voice  in  joyous  thanksgiving.  It  was  employed  bj'-  the  early 
Christians,  the  apostles  themselves  exhorting  them  to  sing- 
psalms,  hymns,  and  spiritual  songs  in  praise  of  their  Re- 
deemer. It  is  used  to-day  always  and  everywhere  in  the 
service  of  Him  who  has  given  us  this  medium  that  we  may 
thereby  glorify  His  name. 

And  whenever  an  upward  movement  was  in  progress  in 
the  Church  of  God,  it  was  accompanied  by  a  fresh  outburst 
of  poetry  and  song  among  the  common  people,  proclaiming 
in  jubilant  tones  the  dawn  of  reviving  faith.  During  the 
great  persecutions,  the  blood  of  which  became  the  seed  of 
the  Church,  nothing  could  restrain  the  faithful  followers  of 
Christ,  who  suffered  ignominy  and  death  rather  than  renounce 
their  Savior,  to  chant  their  songs  in  the  catacombs  and 
subterranean  vaults,  "the  roofs  reechoing,"  according  to 
St.  Ambrose,  "with  the  cries  of  ^Alleluia,'  which  in  sound 
were  like  the  waves  of  the  surging  sea."  And  at  the  time 
of  the  Reformation,  when  the  Gospel  again  was  preached  in 
its  purity  and  fulness,  the  people  took  recourse  to  music 
to  express  the  joy  and  gladness  that  filled  their  hearts.  They 
had  long  been  silent,  and  liad  hung  their  harps  on  the  wil- 
lows.    Held  in  the  Babylon  of  popery  for  many  centuries, 


228  MUSIC    AND    THE   EEFOEMATION. 

they  could  not  but  mourn  and  sigh  for  deliverance.  But 
when  the  deliverance  came,  and  they  found  their  freedom 
in  Christ  Jesus,  they  broke  forth  in  a  song  which  was  like 
the  shout  of  a  warrior  who,  after  mortal  combat,  has  tri- 
umphed over  his  foe. 

And  the  instrument  God  chose  as  the  head  and  front  of 
the  movement  to  restore  to  the  people  a  musical  service  in 
keeping  with  the  spirit  of  Scripture,  was  none  other  than 
the  great  Reformer  himself,  who  had  liberated  them  from 
the  oppressive  yoke  of  Antichrist.  A  remarkable  man  was 
Z\Iartin  Luther,  remarkable  alike  as  a  Christian,  as  a  scholar, 
as  a  theologian,  as  the  leader  of  the  Reformation,  as  a  poet, 
as  an  art-connoisseur,  as  a  musician.  Was  there  ever  a  man 
more  universally  gifted,  and  was  there  ever  a  man  more 
singularly  fitted  to  carry  on  in  its  various  phases  the  Refor- 
mation in  the  New  Testament  Church?  Before  entering 
into  the  nature  of  his  work,  a  brief  reference  to  his  musical 
education  and  inclinations  will  be  appropriate. 

Being  passionately  fond  of  music,  the  miner's  son  early 
became  a  member  of  the  school-choir,  called  Currende,  and 
as  such  was  instructed  in  elementary  counterpoint,  the  duty 
of  the  Ourrendani  being  to  assist  at  divine  services.  The 
story  is  well  known  how  one  day,  when  Luther  caroled  his 
panevi  propter  Deum  in  the  streets  of  Eisenach,  his  hearty 
singing  and  gentle  manners  made  a  deep  impression  on 
Ursula  Cotta,  the  pious  wife  of  the  burgomaster,  who  took 
him  in  and  gave  him  a  seat  at  her  well-filled  board.  Through- 
out his  long  life  the  love  of  music  remained  with  him. 
Whether  he  was  in  a  melancholy  or  in  a  happy  mood,  he 
would  often  gather  around  him  his  family  and  friends,  and 
sing  with  them,  and  perform  on  the  lute  and  flute.  He  had 
a  clear,  strong  tenor  voice,  and  played  like  a  virtuoso  on 
the  lute,  so  that  on  his  journeys  he  would  often  attract  the 
attention  of  the  passers-by.  Those  who  were  not  moved  by 
a  delightful  masterpiece  he  called  "coarse  clogs,"  "only  fit 
to  listen  to  the  bowlings  of  animals,"  His  letters  to  profes- 
sional musicians  show  how  he  exalted  "the  noble  art"  above 
all  other  arts,  placing  it  next  to  theology,  and  recognizing 


MUSIC    AND    THE    REFORMATION.  229 

its  power  as  an  inspiring  and  truth-conveying  aid  in  the  work 
of  the  Reformation.  That  he  was  more  than  a  practical 
musician,  and  possessed  considerable  theoretical  knowledge, 
we  know  from  the  fact  that  he  was  able  to  detect  offenses 
against  strict  canonic  part-writing,  and  that  he  would,  as 
Ratzeberger  relates,  rectify  such  passages  "according  to  his 
own  intelligence."  Only  a  musician  well  versed  in  art  can 
enter  minutely  into  the  nature  of  a  composition  as  does 
Luther  with  reference  to  an  intricate  motet  by  Josquin  de 
Pres,  one  of  the  most  celebrated  composers  of  his  time. 

Surely,  Luther  possessed  the  requisite  musicianship  to 
enable  him  to  undertake  the  leadership  in  reforming  ec- 
clesiastic music,  and  great  things  did  he  accomplish  for  the 
music  of  the  Church  and  for  tonal  art  in  general;  indeed, 
his  influence  was  so  far-reaching  that  he  is  recognized  as 
a  musical  factor  by  leading  authorities.  Every  encyclopedia 
records  his  achievements;  Grove's  Dictionary  of  Music  de- 
votes two  entire  pages  to  "Luther,  the  Musician." 

Turning  now  to  a  discussion  of  the  nature  of  his  work,  we 
find  that  it  consisted  chiefly  in  the  revision  of  the  liturgy 
and  the  introduction  of  congregational  singing.  In  revising 
the  order  of  worship,  Luther  displayed  the  same  sound  judg- 
ment that  characterized  his  other  reforms,  removing  only 
what  was  not  consistent  with  the  changes  in  doctrine.  In 
this  he  differed  radically  with  some  of  the  sectarians,  who 
in  their  attitude  towards  the  fine  arts  went  far  beyond  the 
Scriptures.  Being  filled  with  antipathy  to  all  existing 
usages,  tliey  purposed  to  arrest  the  growth  of  art.  A  fierce 
spirit  of  iconoclasm  swept  over  a  portion  of  the  Reformed 
Church.  Every  vestige  of  prescribed  form  was  renounced, 
monuments  and  stained  glass  windows  destroyed,  organs 
demolished,  choirs  banished  from  their  places  of  worship, 
and  the  service  reduced  to  the  baldest  simplicity.  In  the 
century  following  the  Reformation  the  Puritans  took  similar 
steps  under  Cromwell.  To  such  fanatics  Luther  replied : 
"I  do  not  think  that  all  arts  should  be  trampled  under  foot 
by  the  Gospel  and  vanish  before  it,  as  some  deluded  clericals 
[Zwingli,  Carlstadt,  etc.]    pretend.     I  long  to  see  all  arts, 


230  MUSIC    AND    THE    REFORMATION, 

especially  music,  in  the  service  of  Him  who  created  them." 
Fortunately,  the  great  body  of  Protestants   accepted  their 
leader's  wise  counsel,  and  retained  the  art  of  music  as  the 
handmaid  of  religion.     In  all  his  reforms  Luther  held  his 
mission  to  be  that  of  a  purifier,  not  a  destroyer.    The  change 
was,  however,  sufficiently  great  to  revolutionize  completely 
the  church  music  system.     "That  the  Word  of  God  might  be 
administered  in  the  congregation  with  vigor  and  in  purity, 
that  they  might  become  familiar  with  it,  appropriate  it,  and 
through  it  be  led  to  approach  God  with  prayer,  supplication, 
and  thanksgiving,  —  such  remained  the  sole  aim  of  Luther 
in   the   arrangements   which   he   made    at   Wittenberg,    and 
desired   to   introduce   in   other   places.    ...     As   the   great 
existing  abuses  in  the  public  service  of  the  church  he  indicates 
that  the  Word  of  God  is  not  proclaimed,  while,  upon  the 
other  hand,  unchristian  fables  and  lies  have  been  introduced 
into  the  ecclesiastical  lections,  hymns,  and  sermons,  and  such 
services  are  conducted  as  a  w^ork  which  is  expected  to  merit 
the  favor  of  God.     He  now  made  thorough  work  in  the  ex- 
clusion of  these  innovations."     (Koestlin,  Life  of  Luther.) 
The  initial  steps  were  the  provisional  Formulae  Missae 
(1523)  and  the  new  order  for  the  Deutsche  Messe,  sung  at 
Wittenberg  on  Christmas  Day,  1525.     Kapellmeister  Conrad 
Rupf  and  Cantor   Johann  Walther  were  closely  associated 
with  him  in  this  work.     They  had  been  called  to  Wittenberg 
by  command  of  the  Elector  of  Saxony  that  Luther  might 
consult  them  as  to  the  shape  the  mass  should  take,  and  the 
music  to  be  set  to  it.    Walther,  who  remained  Luther's  friend 
and   "musical   Melanchthon,"   relates:     "He   kept   me   three 
long    weeks    at    Wittenberg    to    write    choral    notes    to    the 
Gospels  and   Epistles,  until  the  first   German  mass   should 
be  sung  in  the  parish  church.     I  was  present  at  the  per- 
formance, and  by  direction  of  the  Doctor  took  a  copy  of 
the    mass    to    T organ    for    presentation    to    his    Grace,    the 
Elector."     Walther  further  states   that  Luther  himself   in- 
vented choral  tunes  on  the  flute,  and  underlaid  them  to  the 
Gospels   and   Epistles,   singing   them   to   the   criticizing   co- 
adjutors, who  noted  them  down. 


MUSIC    AND    THE    REFORMATION.  231 

The  "German  Mass"  has  the  usual  order  -and.  embraces, 
1)  a  people's  hymn  or  a  German  psalm,  2)  Kyrie  Eleison 
and  Gloria  in  Excelsis  (Allein  Gott  in  der  Hoeh'  sei  Ehr'), 
3)  collect,  4)  the  Epistle  for  the  day,  5)  congregational  hymn, 
6)  the  Gospel  for  the  day,  sung  by  the  minister,  7)  the 
Nicene  Creed,  recited  by  the  whole  congregation,  or  the 
German  parap]n*ase  of  the  Creed,  "Wir  glauben  all'  an  einen 
Gott,"  sung  by  the  people,  8)  the  sermon,  9)  the  Lord's 
Prayer  and  exhortation  preliminary  to  the  Sacrament,  10)  the 
words  of  institution,  sung  by  the  minister,  11)  singing  of 
the  German  Sanctus,  12)  Agnus  Dei,  or  in  German,  "O  Lamm 
Gottes  unschuldig,"  followed  by  the  distribution  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  13)  collect  of  thanksgiving,  14)  benediction.  It  will 
be  observed  that  Luther  retained  in  the  mass  the  word  signi- 
fying the  whole  public  service,  and  some  of  the  prayers  of 
the  Catholic  liturgy;  but  he  removed  all  objectionable 
features  that  had  been  introduced  during  the  rule  of  papacy, 
such  as  the  canon,  which  characterized  the  mass  as  a  priestly 
act,  the  invocation  of  the  saints,  the  commemoration  of  the 
dead,  and  all  the  pomp  and  paraphernalia  of  a  gaudy  worship. 
The  adoration  of  the  saints  and  the  virgin-mother  w^as  sub- 
stituted by  the  worship  of  Christ,  the  only  Mediator,  and 
the  preaching  of  the  Word  was  made  the  central  feature  of 
the  service,  about  which  all  revolves.  Thus  the  reformation 
of  doctrines  led  to  a  reconstruction  of  worship  on  the  basis 
of  Scripture,  "bringing  the  worshipers  into  direct  com- 
munication with  God  in  Christ  through  the  Word  of  God 
and  through  prayer,  without  the  obstruction  of  human  media- 
tors." (E.  Dickinson,  Music  in  the  History  of  the  Western. 
Church.)  It  will  be  understood  that  it  was  far  from  Luther's 
intention  to  impose  any  particular  form  of  worship  on  the 
Evangelical  party,  yet  the  Deutsche  Messe  has  been  virtually 
used  in  the  Lutheran  Church  until  this  day,  the  various 
bodies  differing  only  in  minor  particulars. 

We  must  not  fail  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  Luther  intro- 
duced into  worship  in  place  of  Latin  the  language  of  the 
people,  and  congregational  singing  as  a  substitute  for  the 
chanting  of  the  priests.    Except  the  prominence  given  to  the 


232  MUSIC    AXD    THE    REFORMATION. 

preaching  of  the  Gospel,  no  detail  of  his  liturgical  reform 
was  as  important  as  the  labor  he  bestowed  upon  the  intro- 
duction of  congregational  singing;  none,  surely,  was  greater 
in  its  influence.  With  limitless  zeal  Luther  applied  himself 
to  the  problem  of  producing  a  new  hymnody  for  the  people. 
True  it  is,  hymns  existed  before  the  Reformation,  even  in 
the  vernacular  (see  Wackernagel's  collection)  ;  but  they  were 
tolerated  only  on  special  occasions,  the  laity  not  being  per- 
mitted to  sing  them  in  the  liturgical  services.  The  whole 
theory  of  the  musical  system  being  oligarchical,  singing  had 
become  a  function  of  the  clergy.  Thus  the  Catholic  Church 
was  a  spoiler  of  the  rights  of  the  people,  who  were  condemned 
to  be  passive  spectators  of  the  ceremonial  pageant,  silent 
listeners  to  the  priestly  chant,  which  they  could  not  under- 
stand. Moreover,  excepting  several  fine  specimens  by 
Ambrose,  Prudentius,  and  others,  the  pre-Ref ormation  hymns 
were  grossly  offensive  and  blasphemous,  given  chiefly  to  the 
worship  of  the  saints  and  the  Virgin  Mary,  some  going  so 
far  as  to  teach  the  preexistence  of  Mary  with  God  at  the 
creation,  that  all  things  are  created  in  her  and  for  her. 
It  was,  therefore,  not  merely  out  of  love  of  song,  but  also 
from  necessity  that  the  leader  of  the  Reformation  became 
the  father  of  German  hymnology.  While  he  was  engaged  in 
translating  the  Psalms,  "the  spirit  of  the  Psalmist  came  over 
him"  and  the  first  hymns  of  the  Reformation  were  produced. 
Luther  is  the  author  of  thirty-six  hymns.  Some  of  them 
were  translated  from  the  Latin,  as,  "Herr  Gott,  dich  loben 
wir";  others  were  paraphrases  of  Psalms  and  other  portions 
of  Scripture,  as,  "Aus  tiefer  Not  schrei'  ich  zu  dir"  and 
"Jesaiah,  dem  Propheten,  das  geschah";  again  others  were 
strictly  original,  as,  "Erhalt  uns,  Herr,  bei  deinem  Wort." 
Luther  incited  his  coworkers  to  write  and  adapt  hymns,  and 
soon  a  host  of  hymn-writers  sprang  up,  who  were  all  more 
or  less  influenced  by  Luther,  among  them  being  Justus  Jonas, 
Paul  Ebert,  Nicolaus  Herman,  and  Margrave  Albrecht  of 
Brandenburg. 

No  other  jjoems  of  their  class  ever  aroused  so  much  in- 
terest among  the  people.     Soon  after  the  first  hymn-book  of 


MUSIC    AXD    THE    REFORMATION.  233 

Protestant  Germany  was  published  by  Walther  in  1524,  four 
different  printing-presses  were  sending  forth  edition  upon 
edition  until,  at  the  time  of  Luther's  death,  no  less  than 
forty-seven  collections  had  appeared.  Who  can  tell  what 
a  blessing  these  hymns  have  been  to  Christendom^  Scat- 
tered far  and  wide,  they  became,  next  to  the  German  Bible 
xind  the  German  sermon,  the  most  powerful  agency  in  dis- 
seminating the  new  evangel,  and  furthering  the  cause  of 
the  Ixeformation,  "a  powerful  witness  to  the  great  truths 
which  were  the  corner-stone  of  the  doctrines  of  the  reformed 
Church.  They  constantly  emphasize  the  principle  that  sal- 
vation comes  not  through  works  or  any  human  mediation, 
but  only  through  the  merits  of  Christ  and  faith  in  His  aton- 
ing blood.  The  whole  machinery  of  Mariolatry,  hagiolatry, 
priestly  absolution,  and  personal  merit,  which  had  so  long 
stood  between  the  individual  soul  and  Christ,  was  broken 
down.  Christ  is  no  longer  a  stern,  hardly  appeasable  Judge, 
but  a  loving  Savior,  yearning  over  mankind,  stretching  out 
hands  of  invitation,  asking  not  a  slavish  submission  to  formal 
observances,  but  a  free,  spontaneous  offering  of  the  heart. 
This  was  the  message  that  thrilled  Germany."  (Edw.  Dickin- 
son, Music  in  the  History  of  the  Western  Church.)  Countless 
stories  are  told  showing  how  quickly  the  hymns  of  Luther 
passed  into  common  use,  and  sang  the  Reformation  into 
the  hearts  of  the  people.  Young  and  old  sang  them  in  public 
and  in  private,  in  church  and  on  the  market-place;  they 
wore,  so  to  speak,  in  every  one's  mouth.  Thus  in  Magdeburg, 
in  1524,  an  old  man  was  sitting  in  the  market-place,  singing 
them  to  the  people,  and  selling  the  broad  sheets,  when  the 
burgomaster,  on  his  way  from  church,  saw  the  crowd,  and  had 
the  "evil  fellow"  cast  into  prison  for  his  "heretical"  singing. 
But  as  many  as  two  hundred  burghers  went  straight  up  to 
the  citj""  hall  to  intercede  for  him.  Such  a  deputation  could 
not  be  resisted;  no,  nor  yet  the  two  little  boys  who,  at  the 
close  of  a  popish  sermon  in  one  of  the  churches  at  Luebeck, 
just  as  the  preacher  was  going  to  commence  his  prayers 
for  the  dead,  rose  to  strike  up  one  of  Luther's  noblest  Refor- 
mation hymns,   in   which  presently   the   whole   congregation 


234  MUSIC    AND    THE    REFORMATION. 

joined,  —  a  practise  afterwards  repeated  in  that  good  old 
town  whenever  an  antievangelical  sermon  was  preached,  till 
at  last  the  city  council  felt  it  needful  to  open  the  pulpit  to- 
the  Gospel  ministry.  A  plan,  this,  more  effectual  and  far 
more  pleasant  than  that  of  the  celebrated  Janet  Geddes  for 
abolishing  the  mass,  not  by  hurling  footstools  at  the  heads  of 
unlucky  priests,  but  by  singing  them  down  in  Gospel  praises. 
To  come  to  even  higher  effects:  it  is  credibly  testified  by 
one  who  lived  close  to  that  time  that  many  hundreds  were 
converted  to  the  true  faith  by  means  of  that  second  earliest 
hymn  of  Luther  "Dear  Christians,  One  and  All  Rejoice" 
(Nun  f rent  euch,  lieben  Christen  g'mein).  A  Carmelite 
opponent  of  the  Reformer  relates  how  the  cause  of  Luther 
had  been  marvelously  advanced  through  these  hymns,  which,, 
as  he  says,  were  sung,  not  merely  in  churches  and  schools, 
but  in  houses  and  workshops,  in  markets,  streets,  and  fields. 
Nay,  strangest  of  all,  such  was  their  popularity  that  they  were 
even  introduced  in  the  Roman  Catholic  churches,  and  some 
of  them  actually  appear  in  a  popish  hjann-book  printed  at 
Cologne  in  1610,  "by  order  of  the  Prince-Bishop  of  Spires." 
Thus  the  hymns  proved  a  force  with  which  emperors,  bishops, 
and  all  the  powers  of  darkness  grappled  in  vain.  "By  his 
songs  he  has  conquered  us,"  exclaimed  Cardinal  Cajetan,  and 
an  indignant  Jesuit  declared  that  "Luther's  songs  have 
damned  more  souls  than  all  his  books  and  speeches."  There 
was  truth  in  the  assertion  that  Luther  had  made  more  con- 
verts by  his  hymns  than  by  his  preaching. 

Before  speaking  of  other  elements  of  the  musical  service, 
we  must  mention  that  hymn  which,  among  all  hymns  of  the 
Reformation,  reigns  supreme,  and  has  become  the  watch- 
word of  Protestantism.  Although  Luther  drew  his  inspira- 
tion for  "Ein'  feste  Burg"  from  the  46th  Psalm,  yet  nothing 
could  be  more  original  in  phraseology,  nothing  more  char- 
acteristic of  the  spirit  of  the  Reformation.  It  is  by  common 
consent  the  grandest  of  all  hymn-tunes.  Born  of  deep  tribu- 
lation, in  the  disastrous  year  of  1527,  it  utters  tones  of  de- 
fiance and  of  the  all-conquering  power  of  the  Christian  faith. 
It  is  a  song  "with  which  armies  have  been  nerved  for  victory. 


MUSIC    AND    THE    REFOKMATIOX.  235 

with  which  myriads  of  Christian  worshipers  still  fan  their 
devotion  as  they  R-ather  around  the  altars  of  their  Lord,  and 
which  is  to  this  day  the  noblest  existing-  battle-song  of  tho 
children  of  righteousness  and  liberty  in  their  conflicts  with 
the  powers  of  darkness  and  death.  Its  words  and  notes  — 
both  the  creations  of  the  great  soul  that  led  the  Reforma- 
tion—  thrill  on  the  heart  like  bugle-blasts  from  heaven.'^ 
(Seiss,  Ecdesia  Lutheraria.)  ISTo  other  hymn  has  ever  been 
as  popular.  Sung  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  German 
empire,  and  reproduced  many  times  in  other  languages,  it 
served  as  wings  to  carry  the  truth  far  and  wide.  No  other 
sacred  tune  has  ever  been  admired  as  much  by  eminent 
men  of  every  shade  and  opinion,  by  princes  and  potentates, 
authors  and  composers.  Each  employed  it  in  several  can- 
tatas, Mendelssohn  in  his  Reformation  Symphony,  Meyerbeer 
in  his  opera  The  Huguenots,  Wagner  in  his  celebrated  Kaiser- 
marsch,  not  to  speak  of  Raff,  Goddard,  and  other  lesser  lights 
who  have  made  the  melody  the  subject  of  study.  Frederick 
the  Great  called  it  —  in  all  seriousness  —  "God  Almighty's 
Grenadier  March."  And  Carlyle  remarks:  "There  is  some- 
thing in  it  like  the  sound  of  Alpine  avalanches  or  the  first 
murmur  of  earthquakes,  in  the  very  vastness  of  which  dis- 
sonance a  higher  unison  is  revealed  to  us.  ...  It  is  evident 
that  to  this  man  all  popes,  cardinals,  emperors,  devils,  all 
hosts  and  nations  were  but  weak,  weak  as  the  forest  with  all 
its  strong  trees  might  be  to  the  smallest  spark  of  electric 
fire."  Heine's  tribute  is  so  brilliant  that  the  reader  will 
pardon  us  for  quoting  a  critic  who  was  not  wont  to  show 
reverence  for  things  sacred.  "Not  less  remarkable,"  says 
the  German  poet,  "not  less  significant  than  his  prose  works 
were  Luther's  poems,  those  stirring  songs  which,  as  it  were, 
escaped  from  him  in  the  very  midst  of  his  combats  and  his 
necessities  like  a  flower  making  its  way  from  between  rough 
stones,  or  a  moonbeam  gleaming  amid  dark  clouds.  Luther 
loved  music;  indeed,  he  wrote  a  treatise  on  the  art.  Accord- 
ingly, his  versification  is  highly  harmonious,  so  that  he  may 
be  called  the  Swan  of  Eisleben.  Not  that  he  is  by  any  means 
gentle  or  swanlike  in  his  songs.  ...    In  these  he  is  fervent. 


236  MUSIC    AND    THE    REFOKMATIOX. 

fierce.  The  hymn  which  he  composed  on  his  way  to  Worms,* 
and  which  he  and  his  companions  chanted  as  they  entered 
that  city,  is  a  regular  war-cry.  The  old  cathedral  trembled 
when  it  heard  these  novel  sounds.  The  very  rooks  flew  from 
their  nests  in  the  towers.  That  hymn,  the  Marseillaise  of 
the  Reformation,  has  preserved  to  this  day  its  potent  spell 
over  German  hearts."  "To  this  day,"  we  can  truthfully  say, 
applying  these  words  to  our  own  times,  for  Heine's  prediction 
that  it  would  again  be  heard  in  Europe  in  like  manner  as  of 
old  has  been  fulfilled.  No  other  hymn  is  sung  so  often  in 
the  present  war,  sung  by  the  soldiers  on  their  way  to  the 
front  and  in  the  trenches,  sung  by  the  people  in  the  churches, 
and  when  they  have  their  gatherings  in  the  public  squares. 
And  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  it  is  being  misused  by 
many  who  think  of  their  earthly  fatherland  when  they  sing, 
"Das  Reich  muss  uns  doch  bleiben,"  who  will  dare  to  deny  that 
the  hymn  of  hymns  stiU  has  the  power  to  sing  the  bold  and 
joyful  spirit  of  justifying  faith  into  the  hearts  of  men? 

The  enormous  popularity  of  the  Lutheran  hymns  is  in 
no  small  degree  due  to  the  compelling  force  of  their  lovely 
and  hearty  melodies.  These  were  taken  from  Latin  hymns 
and  from  sacred  and  secular  folk-songs,  the  latter  being 
earnest  in  tone,  unlike  most  of  the  popular  music  of  our  day. 
Others  were  composed  by  those  who  arranged  and  adapted 
hymns.  It  has  been  the  custom  to  deny  Luther  all  share 
in  the  composition  of  chorals,  but  we  have  the  testimony 
of  Walther  and  of  Sleidan,  the  nearly  contemporary  of  the 
Reformer,  and  until  stronger  arguments  are  brought  forward 
than  those  advanced  by  Baeumker  and  Kade,  whose  "dis- 
coveries" crumble  to  dust  in  the  light  of  unbiased  and 
judicious  criticism,  we  shall  acknowledge  Luther  as  the 
composer  of  some  of  the  finest  choral  melodies,  "Ein'  feste 
Burg,"  "Yater  unser  im  Himmelreich,"  and  others. 

Originally  the  chorals  possessed  great  variety  of  rhythm, 


'"  Heine  is  here  speaking  of  "Ein'  fcste  Burg."  He  is  mis- 
taken as  to  the  date  of  its  composition.  Luther  wrote  it  in  1527, 
three  vears  before  the  Diet  of  Augsburg. 


MUSIC    AND    THE    REFORMATION.  237 

triple  measure  and  syncopations  being  common;  but  they 
are  now  usually  sung-  in  notes  of  equal  length,  which  gives 
the  song  a  dull,  lifeless  character.  This  change  was  com- 
pleted during  the  period  of  rationalism  in  the  eighteenth 
century.  The  efforts  of  German  churchmen  to  restore  the 
original  style  have  proved  fruitless.  It  is  but  natural  that 
the  primitive  form  has  been  adopted  by  those  Lutheran 
church-bodies  in  this  country  that  have  returned  to  sound 
sixteenth-century  Lutheranism. 

While  congregational  singing  had  become  central,  and 
necessarily  received  more  careful  attention  than  any  other 
part  of  the  musical  service,  yet  artistic  choir  music  was  not 
neglected  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation;  on  the  contrary, 
it  commanded  the  admiration  of  Luther,  who  advocated  the 
use  of  it,  contending  that  it  served  to  beautify  the  service. 
A  number  of  writers  of  motet  music  appeared  throughout 
Germany,  prominent  among  them  being  Ludwig  Senfl,  a  con- 
temporary of  the  Reformer,  Hans  Leo  Hassler  (1564 — 1612), 
and  Johann  Eccard  (1553 — 1611).  Among  the  Reformed 
Churches  the  Church  of  England  adopted  Luther's  conserva- 
tive principle  with  regard  to  the  position  of  the  choir  in 
public  worship. 

The  organ  was  not  commonly  used  in  Luther's  days  to 
support  congregational  singing.  This  was  then  the  office 
of  the  choir.  But  later  (1600),  when  its  unique  utility  for 
accompanying  was  recognized,  the  queen  of  instruments 
superseded  the  choir,  and  "from  that  time  on  dates  the 
development  of  a  new  school  of  organ-playing,  based  on  the 
free  choral  variations."  (E.  Dickinson,  The  Study  of  the 
History  of  Music.) 

But  if  music  has  done  much  for  tlie  Reformation,  the 
Reformation,  in  return,  has  done  much  for  music.  Spitta, 
Xaumann,  and  other  eminent  historians  agree  that  through 
his  songs  Luther  gave  to  tonal  art  an  impulse  that  was 
extraordinary.  They  led  to  an  entire  change  in  text,  ex- 
pression, and  melody.  Treated  in  four-part  harmony,  they 
implied  a  liberation  of  harmony,  and  gave  birth  to  a  new 
class    of    music  —  fugues,    cantatas,    oratorios,    and    other 


238  MUSIC    AXD    THE    REFORM ATIOX. 

modern  forms.  Thus  the  music  of  the  Keformation  sug- 
gested a  new  art  of  harmony,  to  which  the  music  of  to-day 
owes  the  greater  part  of  its  boundless  wealth.  If  they  had 
not  been  inspired  by  the  grandeur  and  beauty  of  Lutheran 
church  music,  Bach,  Mendelssohn,  and  Brahms  could  not 
have  written  their  great  choral  and  organ  works,  in  w^iich 
they  glorify  the  doctrines  of  Scripture.  Several  attestations 
by  notable  English  and  American  writers  on  music  are  de- 
serving of  mention.  We  read  in  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica: 
"The  placing  of  the  choral  song  of  the  church  within  the  lips 
of  the  people  had  great  religious  and  moral  influence;  it 
has  had  also  its  great  effect  upon  art,  shown  in  the  production 
of  the  North  German  musicians  ever  since  the  first  days  of 
the  Reformation,  which  abound  in  exercises  of  scholarship 
and  imagination  wrought  upon  the  tunes  of  established  ac- 
ceptance." John  K.  Paine,  whilom  Professor  of  Music  at 
Harvard  University,  writes:  "The  foundation  of  the  future 
greatness  of  German  music  was  laid  during  the  Reforma- 
tion. .  .  .  We  have  reaped  the  fruits  of  the  Reformation 
not  only  in  our  modern  religious  and  social  freedom,  but 
also  in  some  of  the  highest  forms  of  musical  art."  {The 
History  of  Music  to  the  Death  of  Schubert.)  Says  Waldo  S. 
Pratt  in  his  History  of  Music:  "Much  of  the  wealth  and 
depth  of  modern  music  may  surely  be  traced  in  a  large 
measure  to  the  mental  and  spiritual  stimulus  accompanying 
the  rise  of  Protestantism." 

What,  then,  devolves  upon  us,  who  have  become  heirs 
to  the  Reformation?  It  is  our  duty  to  acknowledge  grate- 
fully its  manifold  blessings,  and  to  show  our  gratitude  by 
cherishing  dearly  the  treasures  God  has  so  graciously  be- 
stowed upon  us  through  Luther,  foremost  and  above  all  the 
preaching  of  the  pure  Gospel,  but  also,  and  in  no  small 
measure,  the  musical  part  of  our  service  with  its  congre- 
gational hymn.  Our  liturgy  is  neither  bare  nor  pompous, 
but  simple,  solemn,  and  Scriptural,  gaining  favorable  recog- 
nition among  Reformed  Churches,  which  feel  a  need  for 
liturgic  service.  And  as  to  our  chorals,  they  are  commonly 
conceded  to  be  unexcelled  models  of  their  type,   and  "are 


MUSIC    AND    THE   REFORMATION.  239 

finding  their  way  into  the  better  English  and  American 
hymn-books  of  all  denominations."  (Lutkiii,  Music  in  the 
Church.)  Even  in  the  Church  of  England,  the  liturgy  of 
which  is  modeled  after  that  of  our  Church  (see  Dr.  Jacobs, 
Lutheran  Movement  in  England),  and  which  has  better  music 
than  the  other  Keformed  bodies,  the  superiority  of  the  Lu- 
theran hymns  is  recognized.  In  Christian  Life  in  Song  an 
Anglican  writer  candidly  avers:  "We  have  not  one  compo- 
sition corresponding  with  the  earliest  burst  of  German  song. 
This  primary  formation  with  its  massive  strength  and  its 
mountain  ranges,  upheaved  by  the  great  inward  fire  of  the 
Reformation,  is  with  the  Churches  of  England  altogether 
wanting.  And  the  deficiency  is  significant."  Shall  we,  then, 
reject  the  heritage  that  others  are  learning  to  prize  highly? 
Ear  from  it.  In  matters  of  faith  'we  make  no  concessions 
to  the  fads  and  fancies  of  the  hour.  This  must  be  our 
position  also  with  regard  to  the  music  of  our  Church.  It  is 
obvious  that  the  melodies  of  the  professional  revivalist, 
which  have  crept  into  the  hymn-books  of  many  non-Lutheran 
denominations,  are  not  deserving  of  use  in  worship.  The 
constant  use  of  the  three  major  harmonies  in  their  simplest 
positions  precludes  a  proper  interpretation  of  the  text  by 
harmonic  devices,  and  makes  the  tunes  sound  cheap  and 
monotonous.  Let  us  never  use  such  unworthy  substitutes, 
which  have  no  devotional  value.  "Ecclesiastical  ragtime" 
may  be  a  fitting  ornament  for  the  meeting  of  Billy  Sunday, 
but  it  is  surely  not  suitable  in  a  service  which  is  characterized 
by  solemnity  and  dignity,  and  in  which  everything  is  done 
unto  edifying.  The  same  is  true  regarding  choir  and  organ 
music.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  selections  made  are  not 
always  in  good  taste,  modern  popular  strains  often  receiving 
generous  support,  whereas  the  classics  of  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth   centuries   are  neglected. 

We  conclude  by  quoting  the  composer  of  the  Messiah, 
who,  when  he  spoke  of  the  beautiful  choruses  he  had  written, 
exclaimed:  "But  what  is  all  this  compared  to  the  grandest 
of  all  makers  of  harmony  —  above,  above !" 

God  grant  that  we  niny  pvor  employ  to  His  honor   the 


240  LUTHER   AND    THE    CLASSICS. 

precious  gift  of  music,  until  we  shall,  through  the  infinite 
merits  of  our  Savior,  enter  life  everlasting,  there  to  appear 
before  "the  grandest  of  all  masters  of  harmony,"  and  join 
the  angelic  choir  in  rapturous  song,  there  to  sing  the  hymns 
of  joy  unspeakable,  and  to  hear  the  voice  come  out  of  the 
throne,  saying:  "Praise  our  God,  all  ye  His  servants,  and 
ye  that  fear  Him,  both  small  and  great.  .  .  .  Blessing,  and 
glory,  and  wisdom,  and  thanksgiving,  and  honor,  and  power, 
and  might,  be  unto  our  God  forever  and  ever.     Amen." 


Luther  and  the  Classics. 

Prof.  E.  G.  Sihler,  Ph.  D.,  New  York  University,  University 

Heights,  X.  Y. 

In  preparing  this  study,  I  have  dra^\^l  somewhat  heavily  on 
Luther's  TaltJe  Talk,  using  the  critical  edition  of  Weimar,  of 
recent  times,  Hermann  Boehlau's  Nachfolger.  In  this  publication 
three  volumes  are  devoted  to  that  noted  material,  the  records 
by  Veit  Dietrich,  Lauterbach,  Cordatus,  Schlaginhauf  (Turbicida), 
and  others  being  separately  produced.  How  far  the  mixture  of 
Latin  and  German  represents  Luther's  actual  and  original  utter- 
ance, I  am  unable  to  decide.  As  a  rule,  of  course,  my  citations 
are  presented  in  English. 

In  our  endeavor  to  gain  a  true  perspective  of  Luther  and 
the  classics,  we  must  at  once  set  aside  the  current  conceptions 
and  habits  of  our  own  day.  Our  first  object  must  be  to 
comprehend  somewhat  the  great  cultural  movement  known  as 
Humanism,  which  in  that  very  generation  had  begun  to 
cross  the  Alps,  and  which  had  been  for  some  time  before 
largely  in  the  keeping  and  nurture  of  Italian  scholars,  and 
had  centered  in  Florence.  Petrarch,  Boccaccio,  Valla, 
Poggio,  Filelfo,  Bruni,  Politian,  Enea  Silvio  Piccolomini 
(Pope  Pius  II),  Guarino,  Marsilio  Ficino,  Pico  de  Mirandola, 
and  others  had  been  protagonists  in  this  renaissance  of  the 
classics.!)     Through  Reuchlin,  Agricola,  Muth   (Mutianus), 

1)  See  the  works  of  Voigt.  Burckhardt,  Gregorovins,  Symonds, 
Geiger,  and  others.  The  eminent  historian  Villari  maintains  a 
wise  and  critical  reserve  in  dealing  with  these  times.  (Cf.  E.  G. 
Sihler,  Testimonium  Animae,  1908,  chap.  2.) 


LUTHER    AND    THE    CLASSICS.  241 

and  others  Greek  (taught  in  Italy  by  Gaza  and  Argyropulos; 
Byzantine  exiles  we  may  call  them)  was  brought  to  Northern 
Europe  during  Luther's  boyhood  and  early  youth.  Its  study 
spread  but  slowly.  About  the  year  1500,  however,  Desiderius 
Erasmus,  of  Rotterdam,  then  thirty-three  or  thirty-five  years 
old,  had  attained  a  certain  preeminence,  which  soon  was 
acknowledged  throughout  Europe  and  even  in  Italy  itself. 
Let  us  endeavor  to  see  what  the  essence  of  that  distinction 
really  was.  Primarily  it  was  his  rare  command  of  Latin, 
both  with  voice  and  pen.  Latin  had  been  the  language  of 
schools  and  universities,  outside  of  the  Byzantine  empire, 
virtually  throughout  medieval  times.  The  central  point,  then, 
in  the  Benaissance  was  not  to  introduce  Latin,  but  to  replace 
the  Latin  of  Scholasticism  by  that  of  Cicero,  Seneca,  Horace, 
and  Vergil.  We  are  so  habituated  in  our  own  day  to  associate 
finished  speech  and  a  national  literature  with  all  the  chief 
states  of  the  world  that  we  can  hardly  conceive  the  con- 
dition and  status  of  European  culture  as  it  was  in  1500. 
The  only  literary  language  everywhere  current  and  recognized 
was  Latin.  "Good  Letters  (honae  literae)  were  Latin  Letters. 
The  belief  seriously  held  by  the  leaders  was  that  they  would 
simply  go  on  where  Cicero,  Vergil,  Terence,  Seneca  had 
left  off.  This  was  the  basic  view  in  Paris,  Oxford,  London, 
Cambridge,  no  less  than  at  the  newer  foundations,  like  those 
of  Leipzig,  Erfurt,  and,  soon,  of  Wittenberg.  In  Cologne 
alone,  and  at  Louvain  (Louven),  where  Dominicans  and 
Franciscans  outdid  even  the  Sorbonne  of  Paris  as  champions 
of  inherited  Scholasticism,  did  this  Humanism  not  make 
much  headway.  Erasmus,  after  sojourning  much  and  moving 
about  between  Paris,  Oxford,  Cambridge,  Italy,  England 
again,  Louvain,  finally  settled  at  Basle,  where  Froben  pub- 
lished his  original  works,  as  well  as  his  stupendous  series 
of  patristic  and  classic  editions.  After  the  hard  and  fast 
definitions  of  Peter  the  Lombard,  of  Thomas  Aquinas,  Duns 
Scotus,  and  their  successors,  it  was  felt  a  glorious  emancipa- 
tion to  appropriate  the  thought,  the  sentiment,  and  wisdom 
of  the  ancients,  and  to  vie  with  them  in  their  own  fields 
both  of  ideas  and  expression.  The  Adagia  of  Erasmus  (first 
Four  Hundred  Years.  16 


242  LUTHER    AXD    THE    CLASSICS. 

published  at  Paris,  1500)  perhaps  most  completely  permit  us 
to-day  to  appreciate  the  Humanism  of  that  time.  Formally 
they  were  to  furnish  material  from  the  classics  to  illustrate 
and  embellish  discourse  in  that  purer  and  restored  Latinity. 
All,  or  almost  all,  strove  for  this  end. 

A  mere  glance  at  the  Adagia  2)  shows  that  Erasmus  had 
made  his  excerpts  from  a  very  wide  range  of  authors  Indeed. 
We  are  impressed  by  the  range  of  Greek  writers,  many  of  whom 
Erasmus  had  to  read  in  Ms.  codices  because  they  had  not  yet 
been  printed.  Greek  citations  are  always  followed  by  a  Latin 
version.  On  the  Greek  side  Erasmus  used  Homer,  Hesiod,  Theog- 
nis,  Plato,  Aristotle,  Aeschylus,  Sophocles,  Euripides,  Aristoph- 
anes, Lucian,  Hesychius,  Pollux,  Plutarch,  Diogenes  Laertius,  and 
many  others.  He  seems  to  have  delved  occasionally  even  into  the 
Scholia  of  Homer.  —  The  crude  and  mechanical  juxtaposition  of 
some  utterance  of  Christ  or  of  some  passage  of  St.  Paul  close  to 
some  classicist  verity  is  characteristic.  The  whole  was  intended 
as  an  "adiumentum  politioris  literaturae  candidatis." 

Luther's  school-work  at  Magdeburg  and  Eisenach  was 
largely  concerned  with  the  grammar  of  Donatus,  and  probably 
with  some  Latin  fables  composed  after  Aesop.  He  never 
mentions  Phaedrus,  but  always  Aesop. 3) 

There  is  a  reniiniscence,^)  uttered  by  him  in  1537:  On 
Fridays  the  so-called  "slips  of  the  wolves"  were  produced, 
on  which  certain  monitors,  called  wolves  (lupi),  had  noted 
which  of  the  pupils  had  talked  German  in  class  during  the 
week.  Such  scholars  received  the  rod.  On  Thursday  Donatus 
was  reviewed,  i.  e.,  they  had  to  cite  the  exact  place  in  Donatus 
where  the  form  given  by  the  schoolmaster  was  defined.  — 
Luther  keenly  disliked  Ferdinand  of  Austria.  "Oh,  he  gets 
no  'felix  5)  in  Donatus."  6) 


2)  New  York  University  Library  possesses  an  edition  by  Fro- 
ben  (Basle,  1546)  in  folio,  which  I  have  used. 

3)  L.  Roth,  Die  mittelalterlichen  Sammlungen  lateinischer 
Tierfaheln.     Philologus  I,  523  sqq. 

4)  Table  Talk,  Weimar  ed.,  No.  3566  A.  I  discovered  myself 
in  this  study  that  some  curious  details  as  to  the  eagle  were  really 
derived  by  Luther  from  Pliny,  N.  Hist.  10,  17,  directly.  Of.  Wei- 
mar ed.,  No.  2157. 

5)  a  "good  mark."  G)    No.  3753,  fin. 


LUTHER   AND   THE   CLASSICS.  243 

Of  the  Aesopian  fables  Luther  entertained  a  very  high 
opinion.  What  attracted  him  there  was  the  didactic  clear- 
ness in  their  moralizing  purpose,  palpable  even  to  a  very 
simple  intelligence.  In  his  mature  period  he  took  delight 
in  quoting  some,  as  once  (in  15r>0)"j  of  the  wolf  and  the 
lamb,  the  wolf  and  the  crane.  Right  and  Might,  i.  e.,  the 
lion's  share  in  the  joint  hunting,  the  bear  and  the  trav- 
elers, etc. 

At  the  University  of  Erfurt  Luther  studied  from  1501 
onward,  entering  in  his  eighteenth  year.  In  1502,  he  received 
the  elementary  degree,  his  baccalaureate;  in  1505,  in  his 
twenty-second  year,  he  was  made  Magister  Artium,  these 
"arts"  being  the  three  of  the  Trivium  (Grammar,  Rhetoric, 
Dialectic)  and  the  four  of  the  Quadrivium  (Arithmetic, 
Geometry,  Astronomy,  Music).  After  these  general,  we  may 
say  cultured  pursuits,  there  followed  some  definite  profes- 
sional study.  Law,  Theology,  or  Medicine.  Luther  had 
already  bought  a  Corpvs  luris  to  begin  his  courses  in  Juris- 
prudence, when  by  that  sudden  resolution,  so  portentous  for 
him  and  all  the  world,  he  entered  the  Augustinian  monastery, 
July  17,  1505,  before  he  had  completed  his  twenty-second 
year.  Later  (1532)  he  spoke  with  respect  8)  of  the  ancient 
Roman  jurists,  while  he  regarded  the  lawyers  and  the  law- 
practise  of  his  own  day  with  deep  distrust  as  a  purely  mer- 
cenary pursuit. 

The  most  severe  of  his  studies  from  1502  to  1505  dealt 
with  Aristotle  and,  as  inextricably  bound  up  with  these 
pursuits,  some  measure  of  scholastic  lore.  Looking  at  the 
whole  matter  in  a  historical  way,  we  cannot  fairly  separate 
Aristotle  from  the  classics,  we  cannot  separate  him  from 
Scholasticism,  which  Luther  himself  eventually  destroyed  by 
the  Scriptural  principle.  There  is  a  \evj  positive  inter- 
dependence here.  Alhertiis  Magnus  at  Cologne,  and  still  more 
his  famous  disciple,  Thomas  of  Aquino   (1225 — 1274),  both 


7 )  No.  3400. 

8)  Xo.  1518.  Elsewhere.  Xo.  2470  A:  ""Ergo  gentile.s  per  legem 
suain  Caesarem  defendunt  contra  jiapain  Christiaiiorum,  Seaevola, 
Ulpianus  etc.,  qui  ante  Codiceni  fuerunt.'' 


244  LUTHER    AND    THE    CLASSICS. 

of  the  Dominican  order,  incorporated  certain  elements  of 
Aristotelian  metaphysics  and  all  his  dialectic  works,  ^)  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  his  De  Anima  and  other  doctrines,  in 
their  own  presentation  of  Christian  verity  or  philosophical 
theology  (it  matters  little  which  of  these  appellations  we 
choose). 

In  his  own  harvest-time  Luther  could  become  positively 
aroused  when  he  recalled  how  much  in  his  academic  youth 
men  knew  of  Aristotle  and  how  little  of  the  Bible.  Aristotle, 
through  the  dogmatic  system  of  Thomas  and  the  Thomists, 
had  become,  in  a  way,  a  usurper;  a  relation  or  function  of 
which,  of  course,  the  historical  Aristotle  was  entirely  in- 
nocent. 

But  let  us  go  forward  to  some  of  the  references  I  have 
gathered.  "Dialectic  ^^)  is  a  contrivance  applied  to  other 
branches  of  learning.  I  learned  it  thoroughly  (perdidici) 
in  my  early  manhood."  "I  had  to  learn  the  lore  of  the 
Sophists  11)  just  as  Daniel  learned  Chaldean,  and  Joseph, 
EgjT^tian." 

We  come  upon  the  Ten  Categories  (decern  praedlcamenta) 
of  Aristotle  in  a  note  of  Luther  on  Matt.  3,  15  sqq. :  Suh- 
stance,  Quantity,  Quality,  Relation,  Active,  Passive,  When, 
Where,    Situation    (Veit   Dietrich   forgot    Condition,   e'/siv). 

Elsewhere  (1531)12):  "Aristotle's  Physical  Theory,  Meta- 
physics, and  De  Anitna,  which  are  the  best  books,  these, 
I  know,  I  understand  perfectly.  His  Metaphysics  deal  with 
Being,  his  doctrine  of  Nature  with  Becoming :  in  these  two 
is  contained  all  the  achievement  of  Aristotle.  Xow  Aristotle 
holds  that  God  contemplates  nothing  beyond  Himself.  But 
this,   removing   Him   from   all   concern   for   human   misery. 


9)  The  Categories^  the  Analyiica  Priora  and  Posteriora.  De  In- 
terpret atione,  the  Topica,  collectively  designated  as  the  Organon. 

10)  No.  143   (in  1531/32)  ;    Veit  Dietrich's  record. 

11)  Cf.  F.  W.  Kampschulte,  Die  Universitaet  Erfurt.  Trier, 
1858.  Fr.  Paulsen,  Geschichte  des  gelehrten  Unterrichts  anf  den 
deutschen  Schulen  und  Universitaet  en  vom  Ausgang  des  Mittel- 
alters  his  zur  Gegenicart.     Leipzig,  1885,  pp.  48  sqq. 

12)  Veit  Dietrich's  notes,  No.  135. 


LUTHER    AND   THE    CLASSICS.  245 

sin,  and  sorrow,  would,  in  effect,  be  a  denial  of  His  providence, 
nay,  of  His  essence  or  being." 

Another  Aristotelian  concept  which  we  often  meet  with  in 
Luther  is  the  difference  between  the  potential  (to  dwufisi  6v) 
and  the  actual  (ivegyeia).  "When  we  were  discussing  13) 
whether  God  was  really  in  each  tiniest  creature,  grass,  tree, 
etc.,  he  answered:  'Yes,  because  God  is  excluded  from  no 
place,  and  hemmed  in  in  none.  He  is  everywhere  and  no- 
where. But  the  question  arises  whether  He  is  everywhere 
potentially  only  or  suhstantlally ,'  etc."  Elsewhere  (1532)14): 
"Between  the  ethics  of  Aristotle  and  of  Ecclesiastes  there  is 
this  difference,  that  Aristotle  measures  morality  by  reason's 
prescribing  the  best  course,  but  Ecclesiastes  by  the  heeding 
of  the  commandments  of  God."  Again  (1532)  15) :  "When 
I  was  a  young  theologian  and  had  to  make  nine  corollaries 
out  of  a  single  question,  I  received  [as  my  task]  these  two 
words:  'God  created.'  Then  Thomas  [Aquinas]  gave  me 
probably  one  hundred  questions  on  top  of  all  this.  Further- 
more, this  is  the  way  Thomas  proceeds:  First  he  receives 
propositions  from  Paul,  Peter,  John,  Isaiah,  etc.;  then  he 
concludes :  'But  Aristotle  says  so  and  so,'  and  it  is  in  ac- 
cordance with  Aristotle  that  he  interprets  the  Scriptures." 

Should  infants  be  baptized  that  present  some  physical 
monstrosity?  Luther  thought  not.l^^)  "I  consider  the  soul 
of  such  a  one  merely  as  vegetative  life."  "Our  Righteous- 
ness l'^)  is  in  the  category  of  Relation."  The  four  principles 
of  Aristotle  also  were  taken  over  by  Luther,i8)  ^-Iz.^  the 
causa  materialise  formalis,  efficiens,  and  finalis.  Thus  (in 
No.  2402  A),  in  urging  that  there  is  no  merit  in  sinful  man 
(1532)  :  "God  is  the  causa  efficiens  of  merit."  At  one  time, 
jesting   about   the   failure    of   Mrs.    Luther's   home-brewing 


13)    No.  240.  14)    No.  108.  15)    No.  280. 

16)  No.  323.  Anima  vegetativa  or  nutritiva  is  Aristotle's 
cpvxixov  or  dgFTTxixov. 

17)  No.  1710. 

18)  Aristotle,  P/i?/sica  2,  7 :  at  at  Tim  xsizaQsg,  {]  /•/>;,  xo  eidog, 
TO  xivrjoav,  x6  ov  svsxa.  (Cf.  Luther's  Works,  Table  Talk,  Wei- 
mar ed.,  No.  3124,  on  Faith.) 


246  LUTHER    AXD    THE    CLASSICS. 

(1532,  jS^o.  2757  A)  :  "I  beg  to  Goodness  for  the  beer's  causa 
materialis,  formalis,  eificiens,  and  finalis,  or,  if  it  is  still  to 
go  through  its  brewing,  that  at  least  the  tenth  effort  might 
be  a  success."  Another  Aristotelian  distinction  which  had 
become  current  was  that  of  the  contemplative  i^)  (or  aca- 
demic) and  the  active  or  practical  life.    (No.  3117.) 

Another  time  Luther  discussed  political  types  and  tj^pical 
mutations,  as,  the  change  from  democracy  to  ochlocracy,  the 
characteristic  features  of  oligarchy,  and  of  genuine  aris- 
tocracy.2*5)  He  rejected  Aristotle's  definition  of  the  soul.  — 
When  he  came  to  read  Cicero's  writings  more  freely  (it  seems 
this  was  in  his  evangelical  period),  he  preferred  them  to 
Aristotle.  I  need  not  say  that  the  Renaissance  took  both 
authors  more  seriously  than  we  now  do,  endowing  them,  as 
a  rule,  with  a  doctrinal  authority,  which  we  now,  after 
centuries  of  historical  and  critical  study,  quite  properly 
withhold  from  them.  But  at  that  time  "philosophy"  meant 
classical  philosophy.  For  Cicero,  Luther  then  (in  1538) 
entertained  an  almost  affectionate  21)  regard. 

In  a  reminiscence  of  his  Erfurt  period,  a  reminiscence 
recorded  in  August,  1532,  he  said :  22)  "While  I  was  a  papist, 
I  was  ashamed  to  name  Christ;  I  thought:  Jesus  is  a  wom- 
anish name.  But  Aristotle  and  Bonaventura,  these  were 
great  in  my  estimation." 

It  is  clear  that  the  forms  of  Aristotelian  dialectic  re- 
mained deeply  ingrained  in  his  mental  habits.     In  No.  499 


19)  Vita  "speculative."  This  is  Aristotle's  'decoQi^iixog  ^log, 
Ethica  Nicom.  I,  3. 

20)  Cordatus,  who  recorded  it,  wrote:  "In  5  Ethicornm."  It 
should  be  Ethica  Nicom.  8,  12. 

21)  No.  3904:  "Es  ist  ein  teurer  Mann  gewest,  qui  niulta  legit 
et  iudicavit  et  deinde  etiam  dicere  potuit ;  hat  sein  Ding  mit 
Ernst  geschrieben,  non  ita  lusit  et  graecissavit  ut  Aristoteles  et 
Plato." 

22)  No.  174G.  Bonaventura,  John  of  Fidenza  (1221—1274), 
one  of  the  scholastic  leaders  of  the  Middle  Ages,  was  the  protag- 
onist among  the  Franciscans,  and  is  known  in  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic tradition  as  "Doctor  Seraphicus." 


LUTHER   A:SD   THE    CLASSICS.  247 

(spring  of  1533)  he  presents  three  syllogisms  concerning 
Faith,  to  whicfi  he  appends  rejoinders  of  his  own. 

He  placed  JMelanchthon  very  high,  indeed,  in  this  faculty 
of  logical  procedure  and  orderliness.23) 

"In  my  day,"  he  said  (No.  2191,  in  1531),  "there  was  no 
training  in  dialectic  in  the  schools  at  all.  The  only  thing 
they  taught,  and  this  in  mean  language,  were  Universals 
and  Categories,  and  though  they  had  awful  contentions  about 
these,  still  they  understood  not  how  to  make  any  practical 
application  of  the  same." 

But  we  must  move  forward.  —  Rhetoric  in  that  age  was 
altogether  based  on  Quintilian.  Whenever,  in  preaching  or 
other  discourses,  Luther  referred  to  the  main  point  or  chief 
question  or  topic,  he  used  the  term  status.'^^)  Amplification, 
and  the  non-dogmatical  bringing  home  of  a  truth  he  often 
designates  as  "Rhetoric."  On  the  Festival  of  the  Annuncia- 
tion of  Mary  one  should  preach  nothing  but  Rhetoric,  i.  e., 
pure  Joy,  no  theoretical  disputation.  (No.  494.)  "Dialectic 
teaches,  Rhetoric  appeals  to  the  emotions."  (No.  2199  A.) 
Other  terms  of  ancient  rhetoric  used  by  him  are  catachresis, 
using  a  term  improperly  (Nos.  2095,  2204)  ;  tapinosis,  humble 
treatment,  (No.  1671)  ;  mycterismus,  sarcasm,  ridicule  (cf. 
Quintil.  8,  6,  59;  in  No.  2662);  pathos,  emotion  (No.  2696: 
that  the  prophets  outdo  all  the  emotional  effects  of  Demos- 
thenes and  Cicero;  February,  1533);  thesis  and  hypothesis 
(No.  3032  A).  As  a  monk,  he  said,  25)  he  had  an  itch  for 
allegory:  "omnia  allegorisabam"  (No.  335).  "Satan  has 
more  eloquent  rhetoric  than  even  Cicero"  (No.  3092).  The 
eloquence  of  women  as  compared  with  that  of  Cicero 
(No.  1054). 

As  to  the  following  citations  in  general,  one  cannot 
positively  state  how  far  they  meant  general  reading.     On  the 


23)  Philippus  fecit,  quod  nullus  fecit  in  mille  annis  in  dia- 
lectica.  Dialectica  hab'  ich  gewiisst,  aber  Philippus  hat  mich's 
lernen  applizieren  ad  rem. 

24)  E.  g.,  No.  1685,  on  status  (ordoig).  Cf.  Quintilian,  Inst, 
Orat.  Ill,  6.    Cf.  Nos.  744.  2459  b. 

25)  Perhaps  then  under  the  influence  of  Bonaventura. 


248  LUTHER   AXD    THE    CLASSICS. 

one  hand,  Erasmus's  Adagia  were  fui-nished  with  admirable 
indices,  so  that  one  could  readily  find  some  illustrative 
apopthegm,  epigram,  or  sentence.  On  the  other  hand,  we 
know  that  Luther  had  a  certain  familiarity  with  certain 
authors,  such  as  Vergil.  And  furthermore  we  must  not  for- 
get that  there  were  no  national  or  vernacular  classics. 
A  humanist  in  the  sense  of  that  time  Luther  never  was. 
Without  knowing  it,  he  became,  in  a  way,  the  first  of  German 
classics,  alongside  of  whose  German  Bible  and  world-stirring 
and  enduring  German  tracts  and  treatises  the  most  graceful 
Latinity  of  Erasmus  and  of  Melanchthon  himself  impresses 
us  as  exotic,  or  as  wax-flowers  preserved  under  a  frame  of 
glass. 

Nothing  in  Latin  was  difficult  to  a  Latinist  such  as 
Luther  was.  As  late  as  1537,  he  bought  a  copy  of  Lucan,  of 
whom  he  said  very  aptly:  "I  cannot  make  out  whether  he  is 
a  poet  or  a  historian"  (No.  3637).  As  we  are  on  this  general 
theme,  and  before  we  take  up  the  secular  authors  in  some 
detail  of  sequence,  we  must  not  leave  unrecorded  here  the 
fact  that  it  was  Jerome's  Latin  Bible  through  which  Luther 
became  the  restorer  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  and  the  emanci- 
pator of  many  nations.  Always,  we  have  reason  to  believe, 
the  Latin  Bible  was  quoted  by  him  from  memory,  sometimes 
with  slight  variation  of  Jerome's  exact  version.  I  found  this 
so  on  referring  to  the  text  of  Jerome  many  scores  of  times, 
as  exhibited  in  an  approved  edition:  Rome,  1861.  This  fact 
alone,  and  the  current  habit  and  necessity  of  Latin  quotation, 
so  determined,  together  with  the  mass  of  academic  and  tech- 
nical language  in  Latin  terms,  —  all  this  makes  it  more  than 
likely  that  his  ordinary  conversation  was  not  merely  bilingual, 
but  that  in  all  matters  of  a  theoretical  or  controversial 
nature  Latin  predominated  over  the  German. 

As  to  classical  culture  in  general,  Luther  held  that  it 
was  good,  too,  for  a  theologian;  that  a  man  so  trained  was 
more  efficient  than  a  man  without  this  training.  "One  knife 
cuts  better  than  another;  therefore,  also,  a  man  who  knows 
the  languages,  and  has  some  attainments  in  the  liberal  arts, 
can   speak   and  teach   better   and   more   distinctly."     (1533; 


LUTHER    AND    TILE    CLASSICS.  249 

No.  439.)  He  was,  as  I  said,  no  humanist.  —  Melanchthon,^^) 
in  certain  aspects  of  his  faculties  and  ideals,  was  a  veritable 
junior  Erasmus,  i.  e.,  as  a  classical  scholar,  a  brilliant  hu- 
manist indeed;  while  for  Luther  the  tremendous  spiritual 
import  of  the  Bible  dwarfed  the  secular  letters,  whether  these 
were  considered  as  to  formal  grace  or  as  to  their  theraes.2''j 
As  for  reading,  he  held  (January,  1533)  that  "a  student  who 
would  not  waste  his  efforts  ought  to  choose  some  good  author, 
and  such  a  one  he  should  1-ead  and  reread,  to  have  him 
changed  into  his  own  flesh  and  blood"  (No.  2894  A).  "Bap- 
tista  Mantuanus  [an  Italian  imitator  of  Latin  verse]  was 
the  first  poet  I  read;  later  on  I  read  the  II  era  ides  of  Ovid; 
afterward  I  stumbled  on  Yergil"  (incidi  in  Virgilium, 
No.  256).  "Besides  these  [/.  e.,  at  Erfurt]  I  read  nothing 
in  the  poets."  He  said  he  was  taken  up  with  scholastic 
theology  [i.  e.,  Aristotle].  With  Vergil,  indeed,  he  seems  to 
have  acquired  an  easy  familiarity,  so  that  a  turn  of  speech 
derived  from  that  Roman  national  poet  would  come  to  hand 
quite  readily.  He  discusses  the  etymology  of  many  ])roper 
nouns,  among  them  that  of  Dido  (No.  2G2).  He  utters  an 
invective  against  Erasmus  by  adapting  lines  from  Vergil's 
Bucolics  (No.  446) : 

Qui  Satanam  non  odit,  amet  tua  carmina,  Erasme, 

Atque  idem  iungat  Furias  et  m'ulgeat  Orcum. 

(Who  does  not  hate  the  devil,  let  him  love  your  verse,  Erasmus, 

And  likewise  yoke  the  Furies,  and  milk  the  Sire  of  Darkness.) 

The  ancient  empires  all  had  their  time  and  their  end, 
even  proud  Rome,  in  spite  of  the  famous  prophecy  in  Vergil : 
Imperium  sine  fine  dedi. 

Descanting  on  idealization,  Judith  being  under  discussion, 
Luther  said  (No.  697)  :  "Just  as  Vergil,  therefore,  drew  his 
Aeneas  with  enlargements  (ampUficationihus) ,  greater  than 
his  actual  stature,  so  also  the  author  of  the  book  of  Judith 
drew  her  as  a  woman  endowed  with  loyalty  and  all  the 
virtues." 


26)  Cf.  many  of  his  elegant  Latin  orations  and  introductory 
lectures  in  Corpus  Reformatonim,  Vol.  XI. 

27)  Cf.  Xo.  1600. 


250  LUTHER   AND   THE   CLASSICS. 

The  grand  simplicity  of  St.  John  was  displeasing  to 
Erasmus ;  he  will  think :  "His  style  is  not  like  that  of  Homer 
or  Vergil  or  my  own"  (No.  699). 

There  were  at  Wittenberg  two  noted  jurists  and  men  of 
affairs:  one  of  these,  Dr.  Schurff,  Luther  compared  with 
Ovid,  the  other.  Dr.  Brueck  (Pontamus),  with  Vergil 
(No.  1421),  implying,  perhaps,  that  the  first  named  had  more 
grace  and  the  other  more  dignity. 

He  praises  the  lot  of  the  agriculturist,  citing  "Vergilius 
in  Bucolicis"  (from  memory,  it  is  really  from  the  Georgica 
2,  485)  : 

O  fortimatos  nimium,  si  tua  bona  norint, 

Agri  colas ! 

(Oh,  all  too  happy,   if  only  they  knew  their  blessings,  the 
farmers!) 

Several  times  (unless  the  recording  guests  made  a  slip) 
he  cites  as  from  Horace  what  really  was  a  reminiscence  from 
Vergil,  as  in  No.  3137: 

Nescia  mens  liominmn   sortis  ignara   futiiri. 

The  words  are  actually  from  Vergil  (Aen.  10,  501)  : 
Nescia  mens  hominum  fati  sortisque   futurae. 

("Mens,  mind,  not  knowing  fate  and  future  lot.")  Aptly 
he  cites  (No.  3149  A)  : 

Tendimus  in  Latium.     (Our  goal  is  Latium.) 

Speaking  of  sermons :  To  preach  long  is  no  art,  but  to  preach 
correctly  and  efficiently,  "hoc  opus,  hie  labor  est"  ("this  is 
an  achievement,  this  is  toil";  Vergil,  Aen.  6,  129).  Warmly 
he  appreciates  the  dramatic  power  exhibited  by  Vergil  in 
Aen.  IV  (the  Dido-book).  He  compares  Ovid  with  Vergil: 
the  former  is  great  in  "sententiae"  (epigrammatic,  pithy 
truths).  Referring  to  a  certain  Catianus,  who  for  a  huge 
sum  of  money  had  undertaken  to  play  the  traitor  in  the 
interest  of  the  Turks,  in  1538  (No.  3753)  —  "and  he  said, 
with  a  sigh: 

Auri  sacra  fames,  quid  non  mortalia  pectora  cogis?" 

From  memory  again ;    really : 

.  .  .  quid  non  mortalia  pectora  cogrs, 
Auri  sacra  fames? 


LUTHER    AND    THE    CLASSICS.  251 

("What  clriveth  not  the  hearts  of  men  to  do,  accursed  greed 
of  gold?"  Vergil,  Aen.  3,  57.)  A  term  in  Vergil  (Aen.  7,  741) 
for  German  javelins   (No.  3752). 

He  seems  to  have  read  in  Cicero's  De  Oratore,  for  he 
quotes  from  memory  Cicero's  dictum:  "There  is  no  better 
waj^  to  impress  others  than  when  you  have  first  made  an 
impression  on  yourself"  (No.  1319). 28) 

For  the  reductio  per  impossihile  (No.  3499)  he  quotes  an 
incident  from  Cicero's  defense  of  Milo.  Then  he  goes  on 
to  cite  the  case  of  the  two  sons  found  sleeping  in  the 
chamber  of  their  own  father  done  to  death  in  that  very 
night.  The  youths  were  charged  with  patricide,  but  ac- 
quitted. It  was  an  incident  used  by  Cicero  Pro  Roscio 
Amerino  (64).  Ovid  he  particularly  liked  for  the  sententiae 
found  in  his  works.  "While  we  dislike  what  is  with  us,  we 
love  what  is  away.     Of  this  also  says  Ovid :  29) 

Quod  licet,  ingratmii  est;    quod  non  licet,  acrius  uiit. 

{Amores  II,  19,  3:  "What  is  permitted  we  like  not;  what 
is  not  permitted  troubles  us  more  passionately.")  And 
a  similar  sentiment  30)  from  Ovid,  De  Art.  Am.  (1,  349): 
"Fertilior  seges  est  alienis  semper  in  agris"  ("More  bounteous 
ever  is  the  crop  on  other  people's  fields"),  or  again  31)  from 
Ovid  {Am.  3,  4,  17): 

Nitimur  in  vetitum,  semper  cupimusque  negata. 

("We  strive  against  forbidden  things,  and  set  our  heart  on 
that  which  is  denied.")  Elsewhere  he  says  (No.  3616) : 
"Ovid  ist  ein  feiner  Poet  gewesen,  qui  excedit  omnes  alios 
sententiis;  er  kann  die  schoensten  sententias  in  einem  Vers- 
chen  bringen :  'Nox  et  amor  vinumque  nihil  moderabile 
suadent.'    {Am.  1,  6,  59.) 

Die  Nacht,  die  Liebe,  dazu  der  Wein 
Zu  nichts   Gutes  Ratgeber  se^Ti. 


28)  Probably  what  lie  recalled  of  Cicero,  De  Oratore  (2,  189): 
"Xisi  omnes  ii  motus,  quos  orator  adhibere  volet  iudici,  in  ipso 
oratore  impressi  esse  atque  inusti  videbuntur." 

29)  Nos.  814  and  1542.  30)    No.  34G3,  d. 

31)    No.  3468;  a  favorite  citation  of  the  present  writer's  father. 


252  LUTHER   AND   THE   CLASSICS. 

With  Terence  Luther  was  particularly  well  acquainted. 
Terence,  he  said  (Menander  really),  knew  the  life  of  men, 
and  how  people  fared,  while  the  monks  lived  in  an  artificial 
seclusion,  like  pug-dogs  resting  on  upholstered  couches 
(No.  285). 

On  one  occasion  (March  2,  1533)  he  spoke  with  warm 
appreciation  of  the  Andria  of  Terence  and  the  various  char- 
acters and  their  delineation:  Pamphilus,  the  young  lover, 
the  slaves,  the  father  (Simo),  etc.  Still  his  concern  does  not 
touch  anything  higher  than  this  elementary  social  and  human 
range  (No.  467).  "Comedies"  (he  meant  primarily  Terence) 
"ought  to  be  produced  by  boys,  first,  that  they  may  have 
training  in  the  Latin  tongue;  furthermore,  mankind  is 
educated  by  characters  of  fiction,  and  each  one  is  reminded 
of  his  own  duty,  in  addition  to  this  the  wiles  of  evil  women 
are  laid  bare.  .  .  .  And  if  the  comedies  were  not  to  be 
produced  by  a  Christian  on  account  of  certain  unclean  ele- 
ments, then  not  even  the  Bible  ought  to  be  read.  But  he 
who  takes  offense  at  such  things  takes  offense  when  no  one 
offers  it,"    (No.  3346.) 

Greek  Luther  does  not  seem  to  have  touched  at  Erfurt. 
His  Aristotelian  studies  were  all  accomplished  through  Latin 
translations.  It  was  primarily  his  study  of  the  Greek  Testa- 
ment which  made  him  take  up  Greek  with  serious  purpose. 
Melanchthon,  as  we  know,  was  one  of  the  most  finished 
Grecians  of  Europe.  In  questions  of  technical  scholarship 
in  this  field  Luther  always  assumed  a  demeanor  of  extreme 
modesty,  e.  g.  (No.  1040,  1530—1535):  "I  know  neither 
Greek  nor  Hebrew,  but  still  I  will  hold  my  own  with 
a  E[ebraist  or  Hellenist.  The  languages  in  themselves  do 
not  constitute  a  theologian."  "The  New  Testament,  though 
it  is  written  in  Greek,  still  is  full  of  Hebraisms  and  Hebrew 
turns  of  speech."  His  references  to  Greek,  then,  are,  in  the 
main,  to  the  Greek  Testament.  In  time  he  adopted  single 
Greek  terms,  introducing  them  perhaps  in  academic  work, 
and  so  even  in  his  Table  Talk,  such  as  L-tisixeia,  comity, 
gentleness  (Nos.  320,  1474,  1900),  bearing  with  peculiar 
manners  of  some  people  {xQOJToqpoQog,  No.  815),  evdoxiav,  Luke 


LUTHER   AND   THE   CLASSICS.  253 

2,  14  (No.  3654  b).  "There  are  found  a  goodly  number  of 
married  folk  who  have  no  affection  for  each  other"  [uorogyot, 
coniuges,  2350  B).  "Those  words  of  Peter  are  not  onlj^ 
diday.Tixd,  also  proplietica."    (1  Pet.  5,  3;    No.  3863.) 

Often  Luther  compared  Erasmus  with  Lucian.  —  I  have 
found  one  of  Menander's  monostichs  (single  lines),-  which 
Lauterbach  (No.  3611)  cites  as  copied  by  Luther  himself. 
It  is  No.  168  in  the  collection  of  Meineke  (1841). 

Eig  iorl  dovkog  oixiag,  6  dsojtorrjg.  "One  slave  the  house- 
hold has,  its  master  is  the  man."  Which  Luther's  muse 
elaborated  in  the  subjoined  true-grained  fashion. 

Der  Herr  muss  selber  sein  der  Kneclit, 

Wil  er's  im  Hause  finden  recht. 

Die  fraw  muss  selber  sein  die  maglit, 

Wil  sie  schafTen  im  hause  racht. 

Dass  gesinde  nimmer  mehr  bedenckt, 

Wass  nutz  und  schaden  im  hause  brengt; 

Es  ist  ihnen  nichts  gelegen  dran, 

Weil  sie  es  nicht  fur  eigen  han. 

Sie  seynd  die  gest  und  fremde  im  hauss. 

Wess  eygen  ist,  der  gehe  nicht  heraus. 

Of  course,  Luther  was  not  Melanchthon.  We  cannot  well 
take  leave  of  Wittenberg  as  it  then  was  without  directing 
a  parting  glance  in  this  connection  at  that  eminent  classicist, 
whose  Greek  attainments,  no  doubt,  were  to  supplement  the 
equipment  of  the  spiritual  leader  of  Wittenberg.  Vol.  XI 
of  the  Corpus  Reformatoriim  contains  many  of  the  Latin 
orations  delivered  by  him  as  professor  of  the  Humanities  in 
Wittenberg.  Thus  his  inaugural  in  that  university,  Au- 
gust 29,  1518,  when  he  was  but  twenty-one  years  old,  a  lecture 
cast  in  Latin  of  exquisite  purity  and  idiomatic  elegance. 
Its  theme  was :  "De  Corrigendis  Adolescentium  Studiis."  He 
recommends  with  enthusiastic  fervor  "bonas  literas  et  rena- 
scentes  musas."  In  part  his  address  is  a  polemic  against  the 
scholastics.  Their  domination,  we  clearly  see,  was  jeopardized 
by  Humanism.  He  deplores  the  awful  Latin  in  which  Aris- 
totle had  been  studied.  He  refers  to  Thomas  (of  Aquino), 
to  Duns  Scotus,  to  Seraphicus  (Bonaventura).     For  the  last 


254        WHEX  ENGLAXD  ALMOST  BECAME  LUTHERAX. 

three  hundred  years  Scholasticism  had  absorbed  and  monopo- 
lized all  academic  work.  It  had  granted  no  proper  place  to 
Greek,  to  mathematics.  Aristotle  should  indeed  be  studied, 
but  in  his  original  Greek  garb,  historically  and  philologically 
purged  of  scholastic  matter.  Similarly  Quintilian  was  to  be 
studied  and  the  cyclopaedic  work  of  the  elder  Pliny,  Plato's 
Laws,  Aristotle's  Ethics,  Homer,  Vergil,  Horace,  Ancient 
History.  Christ  Himself  was  to  be  studied  from  the  sources. 
The  Bible,  in  fact,  without  "frigidae  glossulae"  was  to  be 
studied  in  the  original  tongues.  Human  traditions  were  to 
give  place  to  evangelical  truth.  If  only  the  students  were  to 
devote  the  remnants  of  their  time  (suhsicivas  aliquot  koras) 
to  Greek.  He,  Melanchthon,  would  exert  himself  with  per- 
sonal zeal  and  toil  that  their  labors  should  prove  successful. 
The  two  first  courses  Melanchthon  announced  were  these : 
one  on  Homer,  one  on  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  Titus. 

The  great  thing,  we  may  conclude,  was  to  supplant 
Scholasticism  with  what  we  now  call  source-worh,  whether 
in  the  Bible  itself  or  in  secular  learning  and  letters. 


When  England  Almost  Became  Lutheran. 

Prof.  Th.  Graebner,  Concordia  Seminary,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

A  Lutheran  editor  fifty  years  ago  interpreted  as  follows 
the  sentiment  which  then  prevailed  in  our  country  over 
against  Lutheranism :  "Lutheranism  is  a  strange  and  exotic 
plant  in  the  English  tongue.  It  may  prosper  well  enough 
in  the  German  or  Scandinavian  languages,  but  as  for  English, 
there  is  no  possible  hope  for  your  success  in  trying  to  effect 
a  settlement  for  your  system  here.  Your  Lutheranism  is 
altogether  too  much  of  a  novelty  among  us,  without  a  history 
and  home  in  the  English  tongue." 

While  this  impression  of  Lutheranism  has  not  quite  dis- 
appeared from  contemporary  Reformed  literature,  the  time 
is  now  past  that  we  must  feel  under  any  obligations  to  argue 
the  propriety  of  establishing  our  Church  in  a  country  pre- 


WHEN    ENGLAND    ALMOST    BECAME    LUTHERAN.  255 

dominantly  English  in  speech.  Statistics  show  that  our 
Church  not  only  has  held  its  own  in  the  United  States,  but 
has  grown  at  a  more  rapid  pace  than  any  other  denomination, 
not  excluding  the  Roman  Catholic.  It  is,  moreover,  firmly 
established  in  the  English  tongue.  Yet  there  are  those  even 
among  us  who  are  unaware  of  the  curious  fact  that,  far 
from  being  an  element  foreign  to  English  history,  Lu- 
theranism  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation  was  a  great  power 
in  the  English  language,  and  that  it  existed  in  England 
during  almost  a  hundred  years  as  an  acknowledged  force. 
Indeed,  it  was  from  Luther  and  colaborers  that  the  clear 
Gospel-light  first  shone  into  the  medieval  darkness  which 
enveloped  Great  Britain  in  that  momentous  third  decade  of 
the  sixteenth  century. 

The  indebtedness  of  England  to  Luther  and  his  fellow- 
Reformers,  as  distinguished  from  the  Swiss  Reformers,  Cal- 
vin and  Zwingli,  is  not  a  matter  which  has  only  been  recog- 
nized in  recent  years.  In  the  seventeenth  century  Nicolas 
Lithenius,  Swedish  pastor  of  a  Lutheran  congregation  in 
London,  wrote  a  book  in  which  he  demonstrates  "that  the 
English  Reformation  was  not  inaugurated  by  disciples  of 
Zwingli  and  Calvin,  but  by  those  of  Luther,  so  that  Luther, 
the  great  instrument  of  God  in  reforming  the  British  Church, 
opened  the  way  to  England  and  Scotland  to  extricate  them- 
selves from  papal  servitude." 

These  words  are  in  consonance  with  the  historical  records. 
It  cannot  be  doubted  that  for  a  long  time  the  adherents 
of  evangelical  truth  in  England  were  no  other  than  Lu- 
therans, who  were  not  only  indebted  for  the  possession  of 
the  Gospel-light  to  Luther  and  his  friends,  but  who,  more- 
over, deliberately  rejected  the  doctrines  of  Zwingli,  and  held 
fast  to  that  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  The  Lutheran  doctrine, 
far  from  being  the  last  which  made  its  appearance  in  the 
English  tongue,  was  the  first  to  replace  the  superstitions  of 
popery,  and  its  confessors  in  England  were  among  the  very 
first  and  noblest  martyrs  that  glorified  God  in  the  age  of  the 
Reformation. 

Since  the  fourteenth  century,  when  Wyclif,  a  teacher  in 


256  WHEX    ENGLAND    ALMOST    BECAME    LUTHERAN. 

Oxford  University,  had  testified  against  a  number  of  Roman 
abuses,  and  gave  the  people  a  translation  of  the  Bible,  there 
had  always  been  adherents  of  a  purer  faith  diffused  through 
the  British  Isles.  They  did  not  form  a  compact  organization, 
nor  did  they  always  make  a  profession  of  their  belief  in 
opposition  to  the  ruling  darkness.  Yet  their  influence  ap- 
peared sufficiently  menacing  to  the  Roman  Church  that 
Richard  II  and  Henry  IV,  under  priestly  influence,  insti- 
tuted bloody  persecutions  against  the  Lollards,  as  the  ad- 
herents of  Wyclif  were  commonly  called.  As  soon  as  the 
mighty  writings  of  Luther  began  to  thunder  against  the 
Romish  corruptions,  not  only  the  rumor  of  the  events  en- 
acted on  the  Continent  reached  England,  and  cheered  many 
a  groaning  heart,  but  these  writings  themselves  were  brought 
over,  in  many  cases  translated  into  English,  and  always 
read  with  the  greatest  eagerness.  Bishop  Burnet  says  in 
his  famous  History  of  the  Reforniation:  "As  these  things 
[the  Reformation]  did  spread  much  in  Germany,  Switzer- 
land, and  the  Netherlands,  so  their  books  came  over  into 
England,  where  there  was  much  matter  already  prepared 
to  be  wrought  on  .  .  .  by  the  opinions  of  the  Lollards,  between 
which  and  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformers  there  was  great 
affinity.  Many  of  them  were  translated  into  the  English 
tongue,  and  were  much  read  and  applauded.  This  quickened 
the  proceedings  against  the  Lollards,  and  the  inquiry  against 
them  became  so  severe  that  great  numbers  were  brought  into 
the  toils  of  the  bishops.  If  a  man  had  spoken  but  a  light 
word  against  the  Roman  Church,  he  was  seized  by  the 
bishop's  officers;  and  if  they  taught  the  children  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  the  Ten  Commandments,  and  the  Apostles'  Creed  in 
the  common  tongue,  that  was  crime  enough  to  bring  them  to 
the  stake"  (to  be  burned  alive),  "as  it  did  six  men  and 
a  woman  at  Coventry  April  4,  1519.  Longland,  bishop  of 
Lincoln,  caused  several  others  to  be  burned." 

In  spite  of  these  desperate  measures  the  writings  of 
Luther,  and  such  parts  of  the  Bible  as  had  been  newly 
rendered  into  English,  were  read  with  avidity.  There  was 
a  universal  rush  to  the  fountain  of  living  waters,  the  moment 


WHEN    ENGLAND    ALMOST    BECAME    LUTHERAN.  257 

it  was  unsealed.  Every  one  that  could,  purchased  the  Book, 
and  if  he  was  unable  to  read  himself,  he  got  his  neighbor  to 
read  it  to  him.  Numbers  might  be  seen  flocking  to  the  lower 
end  of  the  church,  and  forming  a  little  congregation  round 
the  "Scripture-reader."  Many  persons  far  advanced  in  life 
actually  learned  to  read  for  the  purpose  of  searching  the 
Oracles  of  God.  Such  was  the  general  excitement  that  at 
last  the  tavern  and  the  alehouse  often  became  the  scenes  of 
religious  discussion.  The  king  found  it  necessarj^  to  dis- 
courage, by  a  proclamation,  these  public  debates. 

Xor  did  the  movement  affect  only  the  lower  classes.  In 
1519,  Erasmus  wrote  to  Luther  that  "he  [Luther]  had  friends 
in  England  who  thought  very  highly  of  his  writings,  and 
those  even  men  of  high  rank."  The  Gospel  produced  a  great 
agitation  at  Cambridge  University.  Here  it  was  that  Thomas 
Bilney,  who  has  been  called  the  father  of  the  English  Refor- 
mation, proclaimed  the  truth  which  he  had  found  in  the 
New  Testament  and  the  writings  of  Luther.  Plis  influence 
was  very  extensive  through  the  labors  of  those  who  learned 
the  truth  from  him.  Especially  the  conversion  of  George 
Stafford,  a  man  of  deep  learning  and  holy  life,  as  well  as  that 
of  his  friends,  Thomas  Arthur,  Thistle,  Fooke,  Loude, 
Warner,  and  others,  —  all  college  men,  —  spread  alarm 
among  the  adherents  of  the  Romish  superstition.  But  above 
them  all  rose  Hugh  Latimer,  who  had  formerly  conducted 
violent  debates  with  the  adherents  of  the  true  doctrine,  and 
who  had  been,  to  use  his  own  words,  "as  obstinate  a  papist 
as  any  in  England."  Through  Bilney's  service  he  became 
a  diligent  seeker  after  the  truth,  and  soon  worked  jointly 
with  his  friend  in  the  conversion  of  the  multitudes.  Latimer 
was  later  made  bishop,  and  was,  like  his  friends  Cranmer  and 
Fox,  a  decided  Lutheran  until  near  the  close  of  his  life. 
There  was  at  Cambridge  a  house  called  the  White  House, 
so  situated  as  to  permit  the  timid  members  of  the  various 
colleges  to  enter  at  the  rear  without  being  noticed.  Here 
these  persons  used  to  assemble  who  desired  to  read  the  Bible 
and  the  works  of  the  Gorman  Reformers.  The  priests  called 
this  house  "Germany,"'  and  whenever  a  group  of  university 

Four  Hundred  Years.  17 


258  WHEX    ENGLAND    ALMOST    BECAME    LUTHERAN. 

men  were  seen  walking  in  that  direction,  the  cry  was  heard, 
"There  are  the  Germans  going  to  Germany!"  "We  are  not 
Germans,"  was  the  reply,  "neither  are  we  Romans!"  At  last 
as  many  as  seven  colleges  were  pervaded  with  the  leaven  of 
the  truth:  Pembroke,  St.  John's,  Queen's,  King's,  Cajus, 
Bennet's,  and  Peterhouse.  The  Gospel  was  also  proclaimed 
in  the  church  of  St.  Augustine,  in  St.  Mary's,  in  the  chapel 
of  the  university,  and  in  sundry  other  places.  Thus  a  great 
awakening  resulted  through  the  service  of  Bilney,  and  that 
it  took  place  in  the  Lutheran  spirit  is  evinced  by  the  cir- 
cumstance that  the  converted  persons  read  and  spread  the 
writings  of  Luther,  and  were  publicly  known  and  designated 
as  the  followers  and  disciples  of  Luther.  When  Bilney,  at 
the  outbreak  of  a  violent  persecution,  was  ordered  to  London, 
he  received  an  injunction  not  to  preach  Luther's  doctrines. 
"I  will  not  preach  Luther's  doctrines,  if  there  are  any  peculiar 
to  him,"  he  said,  "but  I  can  and  must  preach  the  doctrine 
of  Jesus  Christ,  although  Luther  should  preach  it,  too." 

A  similar  movement  was  noted  at  the  other  great  uni- 
versity, Oxford.  Li  the  year  1526,  says  Mr.  Wood  in  his 
History  of  the  Oxford  Academy,  "the  followers  of  Luther  held 
private  meetings  at  Oxford,  and  confessed  the  truth  with 
such  constancy  that  they  preferred  to  be  imprisoned  all  their 
lifetime,  or  even  be  reduced  to  ashes  together  with  their 
books,  rather  than  revoke  the  received  doctrine."  In  1527, 
mention  is  again  made  of  a  society  of  Lutherans  in  con- 
nection wdth  Corpus  Christi  College  at  Oxford. 

Burnet  points  out  the  fact  that  until  the  year  1531  "there 
was  no  dispute  [in  England]  about  the  presence  of  Christ 
in  the  Sacrament;  for  the  writings  of  Zwingli  came  later 
into  England;  and  hitherto  they  had  only  seen  Luther's 
works,  and  those  written  hy  his  followers."  And  yet  the 
Reformation  had  gained  so  much  ground  at  that  time  that 
the  Romish  party  was  filled  with  alarm  and  despair.  Thomas 
More,  the  famous  champion  of  Romish  abuses  in  England, 
wrote  about  this  time  to  another  great  advocate  of  the 
Roman  system,  Cochlaeus:  "Germany  now  daily  bringeth 
forth  monsters  more  deadly  than  Africa  was  wont  to  do; 


WHEN    ENGLAND    ALMOST    BECAME    LUTHERAN.  259 

but  alas,  she  is  not  alone.  Numbers  of  Englishmen  who 
would  not  a  few  years  ago  even  hear  of  Luther's  name 
mentioned  are  now  publishing  his  praises.  England  now  is 
like  the  'sea  which  swells  and  heaves  before  a  great  storm, 
without  any  wind  stirring  it." 

Where  the  blind  papist  could  not  see  the  wind  stirring 
England,  others  recognized  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  blowing 
into  the  valley  filled  with  bones,  and  waking  them  to  the 
Gospel  light  and  life.  In  1526,  Tyndale  completed  his  version 
of  the  New  Testament.  This  splendid  translation  is  the  basis 
of  our  English  Bible  to-day,  about  90  per  cent,  of  Tyndale's 
version  being  maintained  in  the  so-called  Authorized  Version 
of  1611,  which  is  the  standard  of  English  speech  the  world 
over.  It  is  now  almost  certain  that  Tyndale  labored  on  this 
translation  for  a  time  under  the  direct  guidance  of  Luther. 
Certainly  he  made  use  of  Luther's  New  Testament.  His 
introduction  to  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  is  almost  literally 
translated  from  Luther.  Cochlaeus  writes:  "Two  English 
apostates  [Tyndale  and  Frith]  who  had  been  somewhile 
at  Wittenberg,  were  in  hopes  that  all  the  people  of  England 
would  shortly  become  Lutherans,  with  or  without  the  king's 
consent,  through  the  instrumentality  of  Luther's  New  Testa- 
ment, which  they  translated  into  English."  King  Henry 
likewise  ascribes  Tyndale's  version  to  "Luther's  devices," 
and  the  Bishop  of  London  declared  that  "maintainers  of 
Luther's  sect"  had  "prepared  the  translation."  At  all  events, 
Luther  and  his  friends  were  fully  advised  of  this  translation 
of  the  New  Testament,  for  in  the  diary  of  Spa  latin  this 
passage  occurs:  "Bushe  told  us  that  six  thousand  copies  of 
the  New  Testament  in  the  English  language  had  been 
printed  at  Worms,  and  that  this  translation  had  been  made 
by  an  Englishman,  sojourning  there  with  two  other  natives 
of  Britain,  w4io  was  skilled  in  seven  languages,  Hebrew, 
Greek,  Latin,  Italian,  Spanish,  English,  and  Dutch." 

Not  the  persecution  of  its  enemies,  but  the  entanglement 
of  its  friends  with  British  politics  brought  the  Lutheran 
movement  in  England  to  a  stop,  so  far  as  its  leadersliip 
in  English  Protestantism   was   concerned.     True,   the  most 


260  WHEN    ENGLAND    ALMOST    BECAME    LUTHERAN. 

powerful  figure  in  English  life  of  that  period,  Bishop  Cran- 
mer,  was  at  heart  and  by  association  with  Lutheran  reformers 
on  the  Continent  more  a  Lutheran  than  anything  else.  His 
personal  relations  to  the  German  Reformers,  however,  were 
not  so  much  the  outcome  of  spiritual  as  of  political  associa- 
tions. Cranmer  was  at  this  most  critical  juncture  of  English 
history  chief  adviser  to  King  Henry  VIII,  a  self-willed, 
passionate,  and  tyrannical  monarch,  who  appears  to  have 
placed  everything  in  a  subordinate  position  to  the  advance- 
ment of  his  power,  pleasure,  and  profit.  Also,  King  Henry 
was  a  bigoted  papist.  From  the  time  he  first  heard  of  Luther, 
his  indignation  broke  forth.  No  sooner  did  the  decree  of 
the  Diet  of  Worms,  pronouncing  the  imperial  ban  upon 
Luther,  reach  England,  than  he  gave  orders  that  the  pope's 
bull  against  the  Reformer's  writings  should  be  carried  into 
execution.  On  the  12th  of  May,  1521,  Thomas  Wolsey, 
Chancellor  of  England  and  Cardinal,  repaired  in  solemn  pro- 
cession to  St.  Paul's  Church.  The  priesthood  and  many 
members  of  the  nobility  accompanied  him,  the  ambassadors 
of  the  pope  joined  the  cavalcade,  and  the  several  parties  that 
composed  it  were  carrying  the  writings  of  the  poor  monk  of 
Wittenberg.  On  reaching  the  church,  Wolsey  deposited  his 
cardinal's  hat  upon  the  altar,  and  the  Bishop  of  Rochester 
preached  a  sermon  against  Luther's  heresy.  After  this  the 
attendants  brought  forward  the  writings  of  Luther,  which 
were  then  publicly  burned.  Such  was  the  first  public  an- 
nouncement of  the  Reformation  to  the  people  of  England. 
King  Henry  did  not  rest  satisfied  with  this  triumph.  He 
conceived  that  the  moment  had  arrived  for  an  exhibition 
of  his  learning.  He  gave  to  the  world  his  "Defense  of  the 
Seven  Sacraments,  against  Martin  Luther,  by  the  most  In- 
vincible King  of  England  and  of  France,  Lord  of  Ireland, 
Henry,  the  Eighth  of  that  name."  In  his  treatment  of  the 
Reformer,  Henry  was  not  sparing  of  hard  epithets,  styling 
his  adversary  successively  an  infernal  wolf,  a  venomous 
serpent,  and  a  limb  of  ■  the  devil.  The  public  of  the  day 
set  no  bounds  to  the  praises  of  this  book.  "The  most  learned 
work  that  ever  the  sun  saw,"  is  the  expression  of  one.     "It 


WHEN    ENGLAND    ALMOST    BECAME    LUTHERAN.  261 

can  only  be  compared  to  the  works  of  Saint  Augustine," 
said  others.  The  pope  declared  that  the  king's  book  could 
not  be  composed  but  by  the  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  con- 
ferred upon  Henry  the  title  of  "Defender  of  the  Faith"  — 
still  borne  by  the  sovereigns  of  England! 

Luther  read  Henry's  book  with  a  smile,  mingled  with 
impatience  and  indignation.  The  misstatements  and  insults 
it  contained,  above  all  the  air  of  pity  and  contempt  for  the 
Reformer  which  the  author  affected,  irritated  Luther  to  the 
highest  degree.  A  furious  lion,  he  turned  upon  his  pursuers, 
and  set  himself  determinedly  to  crush  his  enemies.  His 
friends  tried  in  vain  to  appease  him.  "I  won't  be  gentle  to 
the  king  of  England,"  said  he,  and,  in  truth,  he  wasn't.  In 
his  reply,  Luther  reproaches  Henry  with  having  supported 
his  statements  merely  by  decrees  and  doctrines  of  men,  and 
then  proceeds  in  detail  to  refute  the  king's  book,  exposing 
his  arguments,  one  after  the  other,  with  remarkable  clear- 
ness, energy,  and  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures  and  of  church 
history,  but  also  with  a  boldness,  contempt,  and  violence 
which  need  not  surprise  us.  "It  must  still  come  to  pass," 
he  exclaims  in  conclusion,  "that  popes,  bishops,  priests,  monks, 
princes,  devils,  death,  sin,  —  and  all  that  is  not  Jesus  Christ 
or  in  Jesus  Christ,  —  must  fall  and  perish  before  the  power 
of  the  Gospel  which  I,  Martin  Luther,  have  preached." 

Thus  spake  an  unfriended  monk  to  one  of  the  greatest 
monarchs  of  his  age.  In  reply.  King  Henry  wrote  to  the 
Dukes  of  Saxonj^,  beseeching  them  "by  all  that  is  most  sacred 
promptly  to  extinguish  the  cursed  sect  of  Luther.  If  this 
heretical  doctrine  lasts,  shed  blood  without  hesitation,  in 
order  that  this  abominable  sect  may  disappear  from  under 
the  heavens."  As  for  his  own  kingdom,  Henry  was  deter- 
mined to  destroy  every  vestige  of  the  hated  heresy.  During 
the  following  ten  years  he  issued  a  number  of  very  drastic 
decrees  against  every  form  of  departure  from  the  Roman 
faith.  Owners  of  Lutheran  books  were  required  to  give  them 
up  to  be  burned.  Among  the  books  specified  in  the  royal 
orders  as  contrary  to  the  true  religion  were  Tyndale's  New 
Testament,  Luther's  Revelation  of  Antichrist,  his  explanation 


262  WHEN    ENGLAND    ALMOST    BECAME    LUTHERAN. 

of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  his  commentary  on  Galatians,  etc.  The 
adherents  of  the  Reformer  were  called  "Luther's  and  Tjai- 
dale's  sect."  In  spite  of  these  prohibitions  a  vast  number  of 
the  proscribed  books  w^ere  imported  into  England,  among 
them  many  Tyndale  Bibles,  printed  in  Germany  and  the 
Netherlands  because  of  this  persecution.  Thomas  Bilney, 
the  father  of  English  Lutheranism,  was  burned  at  the  stake 
1530.  Tyndale's  companion,  John  Frith,  an  Oxford  scholar, 
suffered  martyrdom  at  Smithfield,  London,  1533,  and  three 
years  later  Tyndale  was  burned  at  Louvain.  A  number  of 
other  noble  confessors  suffered  martyrdom  in  England  at 
this  time.  Among  the  monsters  which  raged  against  the 
truth,  the  names  of  Cardinal  Wolsey  and  Thomas  More 
have  become  execrable  above  others.  Bishop  Stockesly  of 
London  boasted  on  his  deathbed  that  he  had  delivered  fifty 
heretics  to  the  executioner.  Simply  the  reading  of  Tyndale's 
Bible  was  sufficient  cause  for  imprisonment,  and  refusal  to 
recant  the  doctrines  of  Luther  was  deemed  a  crime  worthy 
of  death.  The  fanatical  Bishop  of  Lincoln  even  caused  an 
old  man  to  be  burned  who  was  guilty  only  of  reading  the 
Bible  on  private  walks  through  woods  and  meadows. 

Henry  VIII,  as  we  have  noted,  was  under  the  complete 
control  of  the  priesthood,  and  had  written  his  book  against 
Luther  in  a  fit  of  sincere  horror  of  the  German  Reformer's 
teachings.  As  late  as  1525  he  made  a  treaty  with  France 
for  the  suppression  of  the  Turk  and  "of  the  Lutheran  sect, 
hardly  less  dangerous  than  the  Turk."  ECowever,  his  friend- 
ship for  the  pope  experienced  a  gradual  cooling-off.  The 
causes  that  led  to  his  complete  estrangement  from  the  Roman 
Church  were  complex.  He  contemplated  the  temporal  ad- 
vantages which  might  accrue  to  him  if  he  should  cut  loose 
the  Church  of  England  from  the  rule  of  Rome,  and  make 
himself  head  and  master.  He  thus  came  to  seek  the  friend- 
ship of  the  German  princes,  secretly  at  first,  although  he 
had  not  yet  renounced  his  Romish  belief,  nor  suffered  any 
of  the  worst  Roman  abuses  to  be  abolished  in  his  country. 
But  it  was  especially  his  second  matrimonial  venture,  his 
divorce  from  Catherine  of  Aragon  and  marriage  with  Anne 


WHEN    E^'GLAND    ALMOST    BECAME    LUTIIERAX.  263 

Boleyn,  which  brought  about  his  final  break  with  the  pope. 
Enamored  with  Anne  Boleyn,  then  a  lady  at  his  court,  he 
demanded  from  Pope  Clement  VII  an  annulment  of  his 
inarriage  with  Catherine.  The  pope,  however,  was  not  willing 
to  incur  the  enmity  of  Charles  V,  the  mighty  emperor  of 
Germany,  who  was  a  nephew  of  Catherine.  When  the  pope 
began  to  pursue  a  policy  of  procrastination,  in  the  hope  that 
the  royal  lover's  ardor  fc)r  Anne  Boleyn  would  be  worn  out 
by  waiting,  Henry  suddenly  dismissed  his  chancellor,  Wolsey, 
whom  he  suspected  of  managing  the  affair  with  greater  loyalty 
to  the  pope  than  to  his  master.  Wolsey  died  broken-hearted. 
It  was  at  this  time  that  Thomas  Cranmer,  a  young  theologian, 
who  had  warmly  supported  King  Henry's  contention  that  his 
marriage  to  Catherine  should  be  annulled,  was  made  the 
trusted  advisor  of  the  king.  Cranmer  was  sent  to  the  Conti- 
nent with  the  royal  commission  to  gain  approbation  of  various 
universities  of  the  Continent  for  this  marriage,  and  also  to 
negotiate  for  the  political  support  of  the  Protestant  princes. 
The  Lutheran  princes,  however,  insisted  that  agreement  in 
doctrine  must  be  established  before  they  would  enter  an 
alliance  with  him.  Burnet  remarks  on  this  point:  "It  can- 
not be  denied  that  the  Protestants  proved  their  sincerity  in 
this  matter,  such  as  hecame  men  of  conscience,  who  were 
actuated  hy  true  principles,  and  not  hy  maxims  of  policy. 
For  if  these,''  that  is,  considerations  of  political  advantage, 
"had  governed  them,  they  would  have  shown  themselves  more 
compliant  with  so  great  a  prince,  who  was  then  alienated 
from  the  pope  and  on  very  ill  terms  with  the  emperor." 
Cranmer  then  invited  expression  of  opinion  from  the  Witten- 
berg theologians.  Luther  openly  proclaimed  it  as  his  opin- 
ion that  the  separation  would  be  a  greater  enormity  than 
the  marriage  of  Henry  and  Catherine  had  been  (Catherine 
was  his  brother's  widow).  Such  appears  to  have  been  the 
prevalent  view  in  Germany.  It  was  during  this  residence 
in  Germany  that  Cranmer  became  acquainted  with  the  cele- 
brated Osiander,  then  pastor  at  Nuremberg,  and  having 
formed  an  attachment  to  the  niece  of  his  friend,  was  united 
to  her' early  in  the  following  year.    It  is  not  generally  known 


264  WHEN    ENGLAND    ALMOST    BECAME   LUTHERAN. 

that  the  greatest  figure  in  the  history  of  the  Reformation 
of  England,  Thomas  Cranmer,  married  a  Lutheran  girl. 

But  the  royal  will  was  not  to  be  thwarted  by  the  scruples 
of  theologians.  The  alliance  with  Catherine  was  declared 
null  and  void,  and  the  nuptials  with  Anne  Boleyn  were 
celebrated.  Cranmer  was  made  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
and  Henry  assumed  the  title  of  Protector  and  Head  of  the 
Church  of  England.  When  he  refused  to  obey  a  summons  of 
the  pope  to  appear  in  Rome,  the  great  papal  curse  was 
launched  against  him.  This  was  the  end  of  spiritual  rela- 
tions between  Henry  and  the  pope  and  the  beginning  of  the 
Anglican  Reformation.  Henry  declared  himself  the  head 
•of  the  Anglican  Church.  He  would  be  king  and  pope  in  one. 
Yet  he  was  by  no  means  won  over  to  the  doctrinal  position 
of  the  Reformers.  The  thought  that  it  might  be  said  that 
he  had  become  an  adherent  to  the  faith  which  he  had  con- 
demned as  hell-broth  and  Satanic  virus  in  his  book  against 
Luther  was  unbearable  to  him.  His  plan  included  no  Refor- 
mation of  church  doctrine.  The  greater  abuses,  indeed,  were 
to  be  ameliorated,  above  all,  the  authority  of  the  pope  was  to 
be  broken,  but  the  doctrinal  position  of  the  Anglican  Church 
was  not  to  be  affected  by  this  change  in  spiritual  overlords. 
Once  more  it  was  thought  that  the  opportunity  was  come 
to  strike  a  political  bargain  with  the  Lutheran  princes  of 
Germany.  And  again  the  Lutheran  nobility  stood  firm.  In 
1532,  Cranmer  delivered  letters  from  the  king  to  the  Elector 
John  and  Duke  Philip  of  Lueneberg.  At  Nuremberg  he  had 
a  private  interview  with  the  crown  prince  of  Saxony  in  the 
presence  of  Spalatin.  On  a  subsequent  occasion  he  is  even 
said  to  have  promised  the  assistance  of  King  Henry  in  case 
the  Lutheran  princes  should  become  inveigled  into  war  with 
the  emperor.  But  those  splendid  men  could  not  be  bought 
by  the  promise  even  of  such  emoluments  of  power  to  their 
cause.  Prince  John  Frederick  replied  in  his  own  handwriting 
that  "agreement  as  to  the  Articles  of  Eaith  must  first  be 
reached  between  the  King  and  the  Evangelicals  {i.  e.,  Lu- 
therans) :  they  and  their  allies  would  not  turn  aside  from 
the  Augsburg  Confession."    (Related  by  Seckendorf.) 


WHEX    ENGLAND    ALMOST    BECAME    LUTHERAN.  265 

In  the  year  1535,  Dr.  Robert  Barnes  was  sent  by  King 
Henry  to  Wittenberg  to  prepare  the  way  for  new  negotia- 
tions. There  was  some  hope  then,  it  seemed,  that  Melanch- 
thon  would  be  invited  to  England  to  introduce  evangelical 
reforms.  Luther  wrote  at  this  time:  "Who  knows  what  God 
intends  to  do?  His  wisdom  is  greater  than  ours."  The 
Elector  of  Saxony  wrote  that  he  was  willing  to  enter  into 
negotiations  looking  to  an  alliance  for  mutual  defense,  but 
added:  "Never  shall  we  cast  away  the  right  and  pure 
doctrine  of  the  Gospel  which  we  .  .  .  confessed  before  the 
emperor  in  the  Augsburg  convention."  And  having  exhorted 
the  king  to  carry  through  a  reform  of  popish  abuses,  he  again 
says :  "For  our  own  part,  we  shall,  through  the  help  of  God, 
never  cast  away  the  doctrine  which  we  confess." 

Indeed,  matters  had  at  this  time  taken  a  turn  in  Englknd 
which  led  many  to  hope  that  king  and  people  might  be  gained 
over  for  the  evangelical  truth.  The  movement  against  the 
various  superstitious  practises  of  popery  was  becoming  more 
pronounced,  and  the  hopes  of  German  Protestants  were 
greatly  animated.  An  attempt  was  made  to  gain  a  better 
understanding  with  the  English  divines.  Myconius,  a  Lu- 
theran clergyman,  and  Burckhardt,  vice-chancellor  to  the 
Elector  of  Saxony,  brought  a  letter  from  Melanchthon  to 
the  king,  expressing  the  joy  which  had  been  kindled  in  the 
hearts  of  all  good  men  by  His  Majesty's  alacrity  in  the 
work  of  Reformation.  These  Germans  were,  unhappily, 
doomed  to  bitter  disappointment.  The  Romish  party  in 
English  politics  prevented  a  discussion  of  the  Mass  and  of 
celibacy.  In  spite  of  Cranmer's  efforts  no  opportunity  was 
given  the  German  ambassadors  to  state  their  views  of  those 
principles  on  which  alone  a  real  Reformation  of  the  Church 
could  be  brought  about.  Only  those  points  of  doctrine  which 
the  Church  of  England  had  already  adopted  from  the  Augs- 
burg Confession  were  reaffirmed,  and  this  only  after  much 
wearisome  discussion  (by  writing)  back  and  forth.  It  appears 
that  the  German  ambassadors  received  scurvy  treatment  in 
other  ways.  Cranmer  complains  that  "they  be  very  ill  lodged, 
for  besides  a  multitude  of  rats  daily  and  nightly  running 


266  WHEN    ENGLAND    ALMOST    BECAME    LUTHERAN. 

in  their  chambers,  the  kitchen  standeth  directly  a^'ainst  their 
parlour,  and  by  reason  thereof  the  house  savoreth  so  ill  that 
it  offendeth  all  men  that  come  into  it."  We  are  not  surprised 
to  read  that  the  Lutheran  visitors  were  all  in  haste  to  take 
their  leave.     This  was  in  1536, 

The  German  Reformers  were  finally  disillusionized  by  the 
laws  which  Henry  YIII  promulgated  in  1539  for  the  sup- 
pression of  the  evangelical  faith  in  his  dominion.  These 
laws,  known  as  the  Bloody  Statutes,  were  enacted  in  spite 
of  the  vigorous  opposition  of  Cranmer,  whose  eloquence  and 
learning  on  this  occasion  extorted  admiration  even  from  his 
enemies.  The  king  himself  was  struck  by  the  force  of 
Cranmer's  arguments,  but  he  had  gone  so  far  that  there  was 
now  no  drawing  back.  The  king  felt  that  his  honor  as 
"Defender  of  the  Catholic  Faith"  and  his  very  throne  were 
endangered,  if  the  country  should  become  divided  in  its 
religious  opinion.  The  Six  Articles  were  designed  to  pre- 
serve the  unity  of  faith  in  England.  They  maintained  the 
Roman  doctrine  of  the  change  of  the  elements  into  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ  in  the  Sacrament,  forbade  the  marriage 
of  the  clergy,  and  insisted  on  auricular  confession  to  the 
priest.  The  penalties  inflicted  upon  transgressors  of  these 
regulations  were  horrible.  They  condemned  to  death  hy  fire 
all  who  should  speak,  preach,  and  write  against  the  Roman 
doctrine  in  these  three  points! 

Nothing  could  exceed  the  exasperation  and  disappointment 
produced  among  the  German  Reformers  by  the  publication 
of  this  sanguinary  and  tyrannical  law.  The  truth  was  cour- 
teously, but  very  plainly  told  by  Melanchthon  in  an  epistle 
addressed  to  Henry  himself.  The  indignation  of  Luther 
was  expressed  in  less  measured  language.  "I  am  rejoiced," 
he  said  in  a  letter  to  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  "that  the  king- 
has  at  last  thrown  off  the  mask.  He  demanded  to  be  chosen 
as  head  and  defender  of  the  Gospel  in  Germany.  Away  with 
such  a  head !  His  power  and  his  wealth  have  so  inflated  him 
that  he  would  be  adored  as  a  divinity.  Ilis  craft  is  such  as 
might  well  qualify  him  for  the  popedom  itself." 

At  this  point  we  may  suitably  terminate  our  study  of 


WHEN    ENGLAND    ALMOST    BECAME    LUTHERAN.  267 

that  strange  and  little  known  period  of  Reformation  history^ 
when  England  almost  became  Lutheran.  Not  that  the  Lu- 
theran intluence  came  to  an  end  when  the  negotiations  with 
the  Lutheran  princes  fell  through.  Nor  did  the  persecution 
which  followed  the  publication  of  the  Six  Articles  crush 
out  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  principle,  or  remove  it  as  an 
active  force  from  English  life.  As  late  as  1548,  Cranmer 
translated  a  catechism  written  by  Justus  Jonas,  the  friend 
of  Luther;  and  the  Anglican  Confession,  the  Two-and-forty 
(later  Thirty-nine)  Articles  adopted  in  1551,  in  part  literally 
reproduces  the  Augsburg  Confession.  But  the  Zwinglian 
strain  now  gained  the  ascendancy.  Li  his  translation  of 
Jonas's  catechism  Cranmer  altered  the  text  in  a  manner  to 
conform  to  the  Reformed  doctrine  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 
And  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  contain  the  Reformed  view" 
concerning  the  Sacraments.  The  leaders  of  Anglicanism  at 
that  time  were  either  Calvinists  and  Zwinglians,  or  were 
middle-of-the-road  men  and  ecclesiastical  diplomats,  like 
Bucer.  Thus  it  was  that  England  did  not  become  Lutheran. 
As  an  organized  force  in  English  history,  Lutheranism  was 
killed  by  politics.  A  lewd  and  tyrannical  king  held  the  reins 
of  power.  Roman  Catholic  bigotry  at  one  time  made  him 
an  enemy  of  the  Reformation,  expediency  ranged  him  among 
her  friends  for  a  season,  but  when  the  loyalty  of  Lutheran 
jirinccs  could  not  be  bought,  he  turned  against  his  evangelical 
subjects  in  the  cruel  rage  characteristic  of  unbalanced  tyrants. 
When  the  politico-ecclesiastical  tinkerers  under  Edward  VI 
got  through  their  work,  they  had  compounded  a  confession 
which  is  neither  Lutheran  nor  Calvinistic,  but  Anglican. 
The  clear  stream  of  Lutheranism  was  swallowed  up  in  the 
muddy,  Anglican  waters.  Yet  it  should  not  be  forgotten 
that,  in  the  words  of  old  Lithenius,  it  was  "Luther,  the 
great  instrument  of  God  in  reforming  the  British  Church, 
who  opened  the  way  to  England  and  Scotland  to  extricate 
themselves  from  papal  servitude."  And  the  imperishable 
legacy  of  Lutheranism  to  the  English-speaking  world  is  the 
English  Bible. 


26S  Luther's  end. 

Luther's  End. 

Rev.  E.  Haertel,  Chicago,  111. 

It  is  hard  for  us  to  realize  that  a  man  whose  literary 
products  fill  twenty-five  large  volumes;  who  constantly 
lectured  to  large  classes  at  the  University;  whose  corre- 
spondence on  a  vast  variety  of  subjects  was  enormous; 
who  with  the  aid  of  several  friends  rendered  the  Bible  into 
the  vernacular;  who  preached  several  sermons  a  week;  who 
could  find  time  to  compose  a  number  of  powerful  hynuis  and 
set  some  of  them  to  music ;  who  could  in  his  home  and  social 
life  maintain  a  most  cheerful  spirit,  —  it  is  hard  for  us  to 
realize  that  such  a  man  could  be  otherwise  than  physically 
strong  and  of  rugged  health.  The  familiar  portrait  of 
Luther  representing  him  as  he  appeared  toward  the  end  of 
his  career  tends  to  strengthen  the  impression  that  he  was 
a  robust  man  and  of  great  strength.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
however,  Luther  was  far  from  being  the  well  man  he  is 
popularly  supposed  to  have  been.  Very  early  in  life  he  was 
attacked  by  the  calculus,  from  which  painful  disorder  he 
suffered  severely.  In  December,  1537,  he  writes :  "I  am  little 
more  than  a  benumbed  and  frozen  carcass."  At  another 
time  he  said:  "This  toothache  and  earache  I  am  always 
suffering  from  are  worse  than  the  plague.  When  I  was  at 
Coburg,  in  1530,  I  was  tormented  with  a  noise  and  buzzing 
in  my  ears,  just  as  though  there  were  some  wind  tearing 
through  my  head.     The  devil  had  something  to  do  with  it." 

A  man  was  complaining  to  him  one  day  of  the  itch ;  said 
Luther:  "I  should  be  very  glad  to  change  with  you,  and  to 
give  you  ten  florins  into  the  bargain.  You  don't  know  what 
a  horrible  thing  this  vertigo  of  mine  is.  Here,  all  to-day, 
I  have  not  been  able  to  read  a  letter  through,  nor  even  two 
or  three  lines  of  the  Psalter  consecutively.  I  do  not  get 
beyond  three  or  four  words,  when,  buzz,  buzz!  the  noise 
begins  again,  and  often  I  am  near  falling  off  my  chair  with 
the  pain.  But  the  itch,  that's  nothing;  nay,  it  is  rather 
a  beneficial  complaint." 

One  day,  when  he  had  been  preaching  at  Smalcald,  he 


Luther's  end.  269 

had,  after  dinner,  a  severe  attack  of  his  malady,  whereupon 
he  knelt  down  and  prayed  fervently:  "O  my  God,  my  Lord 
Jesus !  Thou  knowest  with  what  zeal  I  have  preached  Thy 
Word;  if  it  be  to  the  glory  of  Thy  name,  come  to  my  succor; 
if  not,  close  my  eyes." 

"My  head  is  so  weak,  so  unsteady,  that  I  can  neither  read 
nor  write,  especially  when  fasting."    (February  9,  1543.) 

"I  am  feeble  and  weary  of  life.  I  would  fain  bid  adieu 
to  the  world,  which  is  now  given  over  to  the  Evil  One.  God 
grant  me  a  favorable  hour  for  my  departure  and  a  prosperous 
journey.    Amen."    (March  14,  1543.) 

To  Amsdorf  he  said,  on  the  18th  of  August  in  the  same 
year:  "I  write  this  to  you  after  supper,  for  when  fasting, 
I  cannot,  without  great  danger,  even  look  at  a  book  or  a  paper. 
I  don't  understand  this  wretched  malady  at  all;  whether  it 
is  one  of  Satan's  blows  at  me  or  the  effects  of  nature's  decay .'^ 

"I  take  it  that  my  malady  is  made  up,  first,  of  the 
ordinary  weakness  of  advanced  age;  secondly,  of  the  results 
of  my  long  labors  and  habitual  tension  of  thought;  thirdly, 
above  all,  of  the  blows  of  Satan;  if  this  be  so,  there  is  no 
medicine  in  the  world  that  will  cure  me."  (November  7, 
1543.) 

In  this  same  year  his  old  enemy  returned  with  alarming 
severit5\  An  abscess  also  appeared  on  his  left  leg.  Finding 
that  a  fresh  breaking  out  of  it  seemed  to  relieve  his  head, 
his  friend,  Ratzeberger,  the  Elector's  physician,  applied 
a  seton  to  keep  the  issue  open. 

Little  wonder,  then,  that  the  thought  of  an  early  death 
was  ever  present  with  him.  Thus  on  the  occasion  of  the 
death  of  a  pious  man  he  said :  "This  man  fell  gently  asleep ; 
he  did  not  know  that  he  died,  and  does  not  yet  know  that 
he  is  dead;  for  he  fell  asleep  in  the  Word  and  knowledge 
of  Christ.  Dear  Lord  Jesus,  grant  unto  me  soon  such  a  quiet 
and  blessed  death,  and  take  me  also  out  of  this  misery  and 
vale  of  tears  to  Thyself."  In  a  letter  addressed  to  Melanch- 
thon,  dated  April  18,  1541,  after  relating  his  sufferings,  he 
says:    "May  it  please   Christ  to  remove   my  soul  into   the 


270  LUTHER'S    EXD. 

peace  of  the  Lord.  By  the  grace  of  God,  I  am  ready  and 
-desirous  to  go.  I  have  lived  out  and  finished  the  course 
assigned  to  me  by  God.  Oh,  may  my  soul,  wearied  with 
so  long  a  journey  on  earth,  now  ascend  into  heaven  I" 

''I  have  no  time  to  write  to  you  at  any  length,  my  dear 
Probst,  for  though  I  am  overwhelmed  with  age  and  weari- 
ness, old,  cold,  and  half  blind"  (Luther  had  been  for  some 
time  afflicted  with  a  disease  in  one  of  his  eyes),  "as  the 
saying  is,  yet  I  am  not  permitted  as  yet  to  take  my  repose." 

During  the  last  two  or  three  years  of  his  life  his  enemies 
from  time  to  time  spread  abroad  rumors  of  his  death,  adding 
embellishing  accounts  with  most  tragic  and  fantastic  details. 
To  put  an  end  to  this  annoyance,  Luther  in  1545  printed  in 
German  and  Italian  a  pamphlet  entitled,  "Lies  of  the 
Italians    Touching   the   Alleged   Death   of  Martin   Luther." 

His  last  days  were  occupied  in  the  difficult  and  delicate 
task  of  bringing  about  a  reconciliation  between  the  Counts  of 
Mansfeld,  in  whose  domain  he  had  been  born.  "A  week, 
more  or  less,"  he  writes  to  Count  Albert,  who  had  asked  him 
to  come  to  Eisleben  as  arbitrator,  "will  not  prevent  me  from 
coming,  though,  truly,  I  am  much  occupied  with  other  affairs. 
But  I  feel  that  I  shall  lie  down  on  my  death-bed  with  joy 
when  I  have  seen  my  dear  lords  reconciled  and  once  more 
friends." 

Dissensions  had  arisen  between  the  counts  concerning 
certain  revenues  from  the  mines  and  other  rights.  Luther 
had  already  entreated  them  in  God's  name  amicably  to  adjust 
the  matters;  but  their  quarrels  only  seemed  to  increase  in 
bitterness.  They  had  now  agreed  so  far  as  to  invite  his 
mediation,  and  Luther,  though  sick  and  overburdened  with 
work,  did  not  feel  that  he  could  decline  to  serve  his  masters 
and  early  home  with  his  prayer  and  counsel. 

In  October,  1545,  he,  accordingly,  went  there  with 
Melanchthon,  but  the  visit  proved  fruitless  as  the  counts 
"were  suddenly  called  away  to  war.  At  Christmas  time  he 
again  journeyed  to  Mansfeld  accompanied  by  Melanchthon. 
The  proceedings  had  hardly  begun  when  Melanchthon  was 


LUTHER'S    END.  271 

taken  seriously  ill,  and  his  anxiety  for  his  friend  would  not 
permit  him  to  remain.  At  Wittenberg-  he  preached  for  the 
last  tinle  on  January  IT,  1546.  On  the  23d  of  January  he 
started  on  his  third  journey,  this  time  to  Eisleben,  which 
had  been  appointed  for  the  conference.  lie  took  with  him 
his  three  sons,  to  whom  he  wanted  to  show  his  old  home,  their 
tutor,  his.  own  servant,  and  Aurifaber.  He  had  hoped  to 
reach  his  destination  already  on  the  following  day,  but  the 
breaking  of  the  ice,  followed  by  a  heavy  flood  in  the  river 
Saale,  obliged  him  to  sojourn  in  Ilalle  at  the  house  of  his 
friend  Dr.  Jonas  until  the  28th.  To  his  wife  he  wrote: 
"Dear  Katie:  We  arrived  at  eight  o'clock  this  morning  in 
Halle,  but  could  not  proceed  to  Eisleben;  for  an  x\nabaptist 
met  us  with  waves  of  water  and  great  blocks  of  ice,  which 
covered  the  land  and  threatened  to  baptize  us.  'Nov  could 
we  retrace  our  steps  on  account  of  the  river  Mulda,  but  were 
obliged  to  remain  at  Halle  between  two  streams.  Xot,as  if 
we  were  anxious  to  drink  of  these  waters,  for  we  substitute 
good  beer  of  Torgau  and  good  Rhine  wine  for  the  water,  and 
refresh  and  comfort  ourselves  therewith  until  the  Saale  shall 
have  done  raging." 

To  his  friends  he  said,  "Dear  friends,  we  are  mighty  good 
comrades ;  we  eat  and  drink  together,  but  the  time  will  come 
when  we  must  die.  I  am  now  going  to  Eisleben  to  reconcile 
the  Counts  of  Mansfeld,  whose  temper  of  mind  I  know. 
AVhen  Christ  undertook  to  reconcile  His  heavenly  Father 
and  the  world,  He  had  to  die  for  them.  God  grant  that  it 
may  be  the  same  with  me," 

It  was  probably  then  that  he  brought  Jonas  as  a  present 
the  beautiful  white  goblet  which  is  still  preserved  at  Nurem- 
berg.    The  Latin  couplet  on  it  is  to  this  effect: 

Luther  this  glass,  himself  a  glass,  doth  on  his  friend  bestow, 
That  each  himself  a  brittle  glass  may  by  this  token  know. 

On  the  2Sth  the  travelers,  who  were  joined  by  Jonas, 
ventured  the  still  perilous  crossing  of  the  Saale,  and  reached 
Eisleben  in  the  evening,  where  the  Counts  of  Mansfeld,  with 
several   other   notables,   were   waiting   for   Luther.      Shortly 


272  LUTHER'S    END. 

before  reaching  the  city,  Luther  went  some  distance  on  foot, 
became  overheated,  and  when  he  resumed  his  seat  in  the 
wagon,  such  a  chill  blast  struck  him  from  the  rear"  that  he 
was  attacked  by  severe  pains  in  the  chest  and  great  dizziness. 
At  Eisleben  he  quickly  recovered,  and  preached  on  the 
following  Sunday.  To  Melanchthon  he  wrote:  "Now  I  feel 
quite  well  again,  but  for  how  long  I  know  not,  for  you  cannot 
trust  old  age."  His  sons  he  permitted  to  visit  relatives  in 
Mansfeld. 

Luther  was  comfortably  quartered  at  the  Drachstedt, 
a  house  belonging  to  the  city,  and  inhabited  by  the  town- 
clerk,  Albert.  The  arbitration  proceedings  were  commenced 
at  once  in  the  house  where  he  was  staying,  but  very  slow 
progress  was  made  on  account  of  the  mutual  distrust  of  the 
contesting  parties.  Luther  was  much  discouraged,  and  even 
suggested  that  the  Elector  be  requested  to  command  his 
return  on  urgent  business,  as  he  was  under  the  impression 
that  they  would  not  permit  him  to  depart  without  having 
accomplished  the  object  of  their  meeting.  He  was  also  much 
incensed  at  the  quibbling  of  the  lawyers,  and  because  they 
backed  up  each  party  to  stand  on  his  imagined  rights. 

During  this  time  Luther's  health  seemed  to  be  in  fairly 
good  condition.  His  appetite  and  sleep  were  good.  He 
preached  four  times,  ordained  two  pastors,  and  partook  twice 
of  the  Sacrament.  His  last  sermon  was  preached  on 
February  14th  and  concluded  with  the  words:  "This  and 
much  more  could  be  said  of  this  Gospel,  but  I  am  too  weak; 
we  shall  have  to  pause  here.  May  God  grant  His  grace  that 
we  accept  His  precious  Word  with  thanksgiving,  grow  and 
increase  in  the  knowledge  and  faith  of  His  Son,  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  remain  steadfast  in  the  confession  of  His 
Word  unto  our  end.     Amen." 

In  the  mean  time  his  Katie  was  being  consumed  by  worry 
in  Wittenberg,  and  he  sought  to  relieve  her  anxiety  by 
writing  her  five  letters  in  fourteen  days.  They  were  full 
of  affection,  comfort,  and  humor.  In  one  of  them  he  jestingly 
chides  her  for  her  lack  of  faith  in  the  words:  "Dear  Katie: 
Read  St.  John  and  the  Small  Catechism.  .  .  .    You  want  to 


Luther's  end.  273 

do  the  caring-  instead  of  God,  just  as  though  He  were  not 
almighty  and  could  not  create  ten  Doctor  Martins  if  the 
old  one  drowned  in  the  Saale,  or  died  by  the  fireplace,  or 
in  Wolf's  bird-trap.  Spare  me  with  your  cares,  for  I  know 
One  who  can  care  for  me  better  than  you  or  all  the  angels. 
He  lies  in  a  manger  and  hangs  upon  a  virgin's  breast;  but 
He,  nevertheless,  sits  on  the  right  hand  of  God  the  Father 
Almighty.  Therefore  abide  in  peace.  Amen."  And  three 
daj's  later  he  thanks  "the  holy,  anxious  mistress,"  the  "sacro- 
sanct Mrs.  Doctor,"  for  her  great  concern  which  will  not 
permit  her  to  sleep;  "for  since  you  have  been  caring  for  us, 
the  fire  wanted  to  consume  us  in  our  quarters,  almost  in  front 
of  the  door  of  my  chamber,  and  yesterday,  no  doubt  but  by 
virtue  of  your  care,  a  stone  almost  fell  on  my  head  and 
crushed  it  as  in  a  mousetrap";  and  then  he  continues, 
"I  worry  that  if  you  do  not  stop  worrying,  the  earth  may  at 
last  swallow  us  up,  and  all  the  elements  pursue  us.  Do  you 
thus  learn  the  Catechism  and  the  Creed?  You  must  pray 
and  let  God  do  the  caring,  as  we  read,  'Cast  thy  burden  upon 
the  Lord,  and  He  will  sustain  thee.'   Ps.  55." 

Of  the  voluptuous  life  of  the  princes  he  wrote  to  his  wife : 
"You  may  tell  Philip  to  correct  his  postil,  for  he  did  not 
understand  why  the  Lord  in  the  Gospel  calls  riches  thorns. 
Here  is  the  school  to  learn  that.  But  it  fills  me  with  dread 
to  think  that  in  the  Scriptures  the  thorns  are  threatened 
with  fire." 

On  the  10th  of  February  he  wrote:  "We  are,  God  be 
praised,  quite  well.  Dr.  Jonas  wanted  a  sore  leg,  and  acci- 
dentally bumped  it  against  a  chest.  So  great  is  envy  among 
men  that  he  would  not  even  let  me  be  the  only  one  to  have 
a  sore  leg." 

This  sore  leg  evidently  caused  Luther  not  a  little  anxiety. 
The  ointment  with  which  the  ulcer  was  to  be  kept  open  had 
been  forgotten,  and  at  Eisleben  the  wound  was  almost 
healed  up.  Intending  to  spare  his  wife  all  worry,  he  asks 
Melanchthon  to  send  a  special  messenger  with  the  ointment. 
He  writes,  "You  know  how  dangerous  that  is."  And  after- 
Four  Hundred  Years.  18 


274  Luther's  exd. 

ward  Dr.  Ratzeberger  actually  ascribed  Luther's  unexpected 
death  to  the  neglect  of  the  seton. 

On  the  14th  of  February  Luther  reported  to  his  wife 
the  encouraging  progress  of  the  proceedings,  and  announced 
his  early  return.  The  lords  had  come  to  an  agreement  on 
all  points  of  the  dispute  except  two  or  three,  and  the  two 
counts,  Gebhard  and  Albrecht,  had  been  reconciled.  "Our 
young  nobles  are  all  gaiety  now;  they  drive  the  ladies  out 
in  sleighs  and  make  the  horses'  bells  jingle  a  pretty  tune." 
He  was  quite  cheerful  now,  but  spoke  much  of  death,  re- 
marking that  he  would  soon  go  to  Wittenberg  to  lay  himself 
into  a  coffin,  and  "give  the  worms  a  fat  doctor  to  devour." 

On  the  16th  an  agreement  was  actually  reached.  On  the 
morning  of  the  17th  Luther  was  so  ill  that  the  counts  en- 
treated him  not  to  quit  his  apartment  to  participate  in  the 
closing  session,  in  which  the  stipulations  were  finally  agreed 
upon,  and  later  submitted  to  him  for  his  signature.  He  spent 
the  forenoon  in  conversation  with  Jonas,  Coelius,  and  his 
God.  "Here  at  Eisleben  I  was  baptized,"  he  once  remarked, 
"suppose  I  should  now  stay  here?" 

Before  supper  he  complained  of  oppression  of  the  chest, 
and  had  himself  rubbed  with  warm  cloths.  The  evening 
meal  he  shared  with  the  others  in  the  dining-hall,  one  floor 
below  his  rooms.  He  was  apparently  well  again.  He  ate 
as  usual,  and  his  conversation  was  the  usual  free  mixture 
of  seriousness  and  humor.  He  spoke  of  death  and  recognition 
after  death,  affirming  that,  as  Adam  recognized  Eve  on  awak- 
ing from  sleep,  so  we  would  recognize  one  another  after  death. 
No  one  suspected  what  was  before  them. 

He  then  arose  to  retire,  followed  by  his  two  younger  sons, 
Martin  and  Paul,  who  had  returned  from  Mansfeld,  and 
Coelius.  According  to  his  custom  he  remained  for  a  long- 
time at  the  window  engaged  in  silent  prayer.  Coelius  soon 
came  down  again,  and  Aurifaber  went  to  the  room. 

Suddenly  Luther  was  attacked  by  extreme  pains  in  his 
chest.  Aurifaber  hastened  to  the  wife  of  Count  Albrecht, 
who  was  said  to  have  a  remedy  for  this.  Jonas  and  Coelius, 
who  had  speedily  returned,  endeavored  to  increase  the  circula- 


Luther's  exd.  975 

tion  by  rubbing  him  with  warm  cloths.  After  the  count  had 
given  him  the  remedy,  the  attack  seemed  to  be  over.  He  laid 
himself  down  on  a  leathern  sofa  and  slept  peacefully  until 
ten  o'clock. 

On  awakingj  he  said  to  those  present,  "What,  are  you  still 
there?  Will  you  not,  dear  friends,  also  retire?"  On  their 
replying  that  they  would  remain  with  him,  he  arose  to  go 
to  his  bed  in  an  adjoining  room.  When  he  crossed  the 
threshold,  he  said  in  Latin:  "Into  Thy  hands  I  commend 
my  spirit;  Thou  hast  redeemed  me,  Thou  faithful  God." 
After  he  had  slumbered  peacefully  for  about  two  hours,  the 
attack  was  renewed.  "O  Lord  God,"  he  exclaimed,  "I  am 
in  such  pains!  Ah,  dear  Dr.  Jonas,  I  think  I  shall  remain 
here  at  Eisleben  where  I  was  born  and  baptized."  Again  he 
arose  and  went  unaided  to  the  sofa.  The  oppression  in- 
creased. When  continued  rubbing  with  warmed  cloths  and 
other  remedial  measures  finally  brought  on  perspiration,  hope 
was  expressed  by  those  present,  but  Luther  said :  "It  is  a  cold 
sweat  of  death;  I  shall  give  up  my  spirit,  for  the  sickness 
is  increasing."  Then  he  prayed:  "O  my  heavenly  Father, 
Thou  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Thou  God 
of  all  comfort,  I  thank  Thee  that  Thou  hast  revealed  unto 
me  Thy  dear  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  on  whom  I  believe,  whom 
I  have  preached  and  confessed,  whom  I  have  loved  and 
lauded,  whom  the  wicked  pope  and  all  the  ungodly  abuse, 
persecute,  and  blaspheme.  I  pray  Thee,  my  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  let  my  poor  soul  be  committed  into  Thy  keeping. 
O  heavenly  Father,  I  know  assuredly  that,  although  I  must 
give  up  this  body  and  be  removed  from  this  life,  I  shall 
still  abide  with  Thee  eternally,  and  that  no  one  can  pluck 
me  out  of  Thy  hand."  He  also  comforted  himself  with  his 
favorite  text,  John  3,  16,  and  with  the  words  of  the  6Sth 
Psalm:  "lie  that  is  our  God  is  the  God  of  salvation." 
Thrice  he  was  heard  to  repeat  the  words,  "Father,  into  Thy 
hands  I  commend  my  spirit.  Thou  hast  redeemed  me.  Thou 
faithful  God."  Hereupon  he  was  silent.  While  his  wrists 
were  being  bathed.  Dr.  Jonas  and  Coelius  asked  him,  "Rev- 
erend father,  are  you  willing  to  die  faithful  to  Christ  and 


276  Luther's  end. 

the  doctrine  you  have  preached  ?' '  and  he  answered  distinctly, 
"Yes.'"  He  then  turned  over  on  his  right  side  and  slept. 
In  less  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour  he  gently  and  peacefully, 
without  the  slightest  struggle  or  convulsion,  yielded  up  his 
spirit.  The  Lord  had  called  him  home  between  two  and 
three  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  Thursday,  February  18,  1546. 

Jonas  at  once  notified  the  Elector.  Mrs.  Katie  received 
the  sad  news  on  the  19th,  and  Melanchthon  first  announced 
the  death  to  the  students  in  his  lecture  on  Romans.  After 
this  a  posted  bulletin  informed  the  university  and  the  city 
of  the  departure  of  the  great  Reformer. 

The  Counts  of  Mansfeld  desired  to  keep  the  body  in  their 
country,  Luther's  native  land,  but  the  Elector  decided  that 
it  should  be  brought  to  Wittenberg.  After  two  portraits  had 
been  made  of  his  face,  the  body  was  wrapped  in  a  long  white 
garment  and  placed  in  a  coffin.  It  was  then  carried  into 
St.  Andrew's  Church,  where  Dr.  Jonas  preached  an  excellent 
sermon  from  1  Thess.  4,  13 — 18,  and  Coelius  preached  from 
Is.  57,  1.  At  twelve  the  body  was  carried  out  of  the  city, 
escorted  by  about  50  horsemen,  under  the  command  of  the 
two  Counts  of  Mansfeld,  and  a  large  number  of  people. 
Everywhere  the  procession  was  received  by  new  mourners 
and  the  tolling  of  bells.  In  Halle  it  was  placed  in  the 
church  for  the  night.  On  the  22d,  at  nine  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  Wittenberg  was  reached.  At  the  Elster  Gate  the 
remains  were  met  by  an  immense  throng,  and  escorted  to 
the  Castle  Church  in  solemn  procession.  It  was  preceded  by 
the  nobles  representing  the  Elector,  two  Counts  of  Mansfeld, 
and  about  65  horsemen.  Behind  the  coffin  rode  the  widow 
in  a  little  carriage  with  some  other  gentlewomen  and  her 
daughter  Margaret.  She  was  followed  by  Luther's  three 
sons,  John,  Martin,  and  Paul,  his  brother,  and  other  relatives. 
Back  of  them  marched  the  rector  of  the  university,  Chan- 
cellor Brueck,  and  the  entire  faculty  and  students,  the  town- 
council,  and  the  citizens. 

In  the  Castle  Church  Bugenhagen  first  preached  from 
1  Thess.  4,  13,  and  in  conclusion  quoted  Luther's  prophecy 
and  memorial  inscription :    "Living  was  I  thy  plague,  and 


TRinUTES    TO   LUTHER. 


277 


dying  will  I  be  thy  death,  O  pope !"  Then  Melanchthon  de- 
livered in  Latin,  on  behalf  of  the  university,  a  most  eloquent 
tribute  to  his  friend. 

Close  to  the  pulpit  from  which  Luther  luid  so  often 
preached  the  coffin  was  lowered  into  the  vault.  The  grave 
having  been  filled  up  and  properly  secured,  a  brass  plate 
was  affixed  upon  it  with  this  inscri])tion  : 


Martini  LuTERrs-XHEOLO|^^ 


Tributes  to  Luther. 

Rev.  0.  C.  Ivbeinheder,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 

The  name  and  character  of  Martin  Luther  have  not 
escaped  the  tongue  and  pen  of  vile  slander  and  malicious 
calumny.  Next  to  Jesus  Christ,  Johann  Albrecht  Bengei 
has  said,  no  one  has  been  more  calumniated  than  Dr.  IMartin 
Luther,  the  apostles  not  excepted.  Though  mankind  at  large 
is  to-day  enjoying  the  beneficent  fruits  of  Luther's  life  and 
labors,  there  still  are  tliose  who  hate  and  abhor  his  name, 
and  think  of  him  as  the  archheretic  of  the  Christian  Church. 
"Rome  has  never  forgotten  nor  forgiven  Luther.  She  sought 
his  life  while  living,  and  she  curses  him  in  his  grave.  Profited 
bv  his  labors  bevond  what  she  ever  could  liave  Ix'cn  without 


2  /  8  TKIBUTES    TO   LUTHER. 

him,  she  strains  and  chokes  with  anathemas  upon  his  name 
and  everything  that  savors  of  him.  .  .  .  Even  while  the 
free  peoples  of  the  earth  are  making  grateful  acknowledg- 
ments of  the  priceless  boon  that  has  come  to  them  through 
his  life  and  labors,  press  and  platform  hiss  with  stale  vitupera- 
tions from  the  old  enemy.  And  a  puling  Churchism  outside 
of  Rome  takes  an  ill-pleasure  in  following  after  her  to  gather 
and  retail  this  vomit  of  malignity."  1)  And  yet,  "no  man 
has  been  so  much  honored,  no  man  —  save  the  apostles  — 
deserves  so  much  to  be  held  in  grateful  remembrance  as 
Martin  Luther,  remarkable  alike  as  a  man,  as  a  Christian, 
as  a  husband  and  father,  as  a  theologian,  as  a  Bible  trans- 
lator, catechist,  and  hymnist,  as  the  bold  champion  of  the 
freedom  of  conscience,  as  the  founder  of  the  Lutheran 
Church,  and  as  the  chief  leader  of  that  Reformation  which 
carried  Christendom  back  to  first  principles,  and  urged  it 
forward  to  new  conquests."  2)  The  chosen  instrument  of 
God  for  the  reformation  of  the  Church,  Luther's  name  "has 
become  a  household  word,  a  name  that  shines  with  greater 
luster  than  the  name  of  Milton,  of  Shakespeare,  or  of  Newton, 
because  associated  with  more  glorious  triumiDhs ;  a  name  that 
has  left  behind  it  a  legacy  that  no  other  has  rivaled  —  the 
legacy  of  an  unshackled  Christianity,  an  unclasped  Bible, 
a  preached  Gospel."  ^)  "The  ovation  to  the  memory  of  Martin 
Luther,  on  the  four-hundredth  anniversary  of  his  birth,  sur- 
passed in  extent  and  enthusiasm  everything  that  has  in  any 
age,  been  rendered  to  the  memory  of  mortal  man.  All  de- 
nominations, all  classes,  all  institutions,  throughout  every 
country  in  the  world  into  which  the  blessings  of  the  Refor- 
mation have  penetrated,  united  spontaneously  in  celebrating 
his  personal  merits  and  his  illustrious  services  to  religion  and 
progress,  and  raised  him  to  a  pedestal  of  fame  which  stands 
■without  a  rival,  and  which  can  never  perish.  It  was  the 
grateful  tribute  of  the  modern  world  to  him  who  is,  humanly 


1)  Dr.  J.  A.  Seiss,  Luther  and  the  Reformation^  p.  131. 

2)  Philip  Schaff',  in  Tjuther  as  a  Reformer. 

3)  Cumming's  Lectures  on  the  Apocalypse,  p.  122. 


TRIBUTES   TO  LUTHER.  279 

speaking,  acknowledged  as  its  creator."  •^)  At  the  approaching 
celebration  of  the  four-hundredth  anniversary  of  the  Refor- 
mation much,  no  doubt,  will  be  said  in  praise  of  the  man 
who  was  the  mighty  agent  of  the  Lord  of  hosts  in  this 
epochal  movement;  but  surely  no  one  can  blame  us  for  these 
words  of  praise,  which  are  spoken  not  to  deify  the  man,  but  to 
honor  and  gratefully  to  adore  the  goodness  and  mercy  of 
Him  who  blessed  the  world  through  Martin  Luther. 

The  "titanic"  and  many-sided  greatness,  the  "majestic 
genius,"  the  noble  qualities  of  mind  and  heart  of  "the  modern 
world's  foremost  prophet"  ^)  have  evoked  from  an  admiring 
world  the  most  glowing  tributes  all  through  the  centuries 
that  succeeded  his  heroic  struggle  for  truth  and  righteous- 
ness, tributes  that  are  indeed  an  "offering  of  flowers  and 
fruit  on  the  altar  of  the  greatest  memory  which  the  heart 
of  'modern  Christianity  enshrines,"  ^j  Nor  have  "alone  his 
followers,  the  Lutherans,  lavished  on  him  the  highest 
praise." ")  "Romanists  have  emulated  Protestants  in  his 
praise;  Rationalists  have  seemed  to  venerate  him  whilst 
they  were  laboring  to  undo  his  work."  8)  No  higher  tribute 
was  ever  paid  Luther  by  any  of  his  followers  than  was  that 
of  the  devoted  and  conscientious  Romanist,  Frederick  von 
Schlegel,  who  said :  "As  to  the  intellectual  power  and  great- 
ness of  Luther,  ...  I  think  there  are  few  even  of  his  own 
disciples  who  appreciate  him  highly  enough."  9) 

With  respect  to  Luther's  singular  and  overtowering  great- 
ness as  a  man  among  men,  the  loftiest  tributes  have  been 
paid  him.  Melanchthon,  who  surely  knew  him  well,  and 
who  had  every  opportunity  to  estimate  the  excellent  and 
eminent   qualities   of   mind   and   heart   with   which   he   was 


4)  Prof.  Wolf. 

5)  Dr.  McGiffert,  Century,  September,  191L 

6)  Krauth,  Conservative  Reformation,  p.  22. 

7)  Oeuvres  de  Bossuet  (Histoire  des  Variations) ,  Vol.  IV,  p.  9. 

8)  Krauth,  Conservative  Reformation,  p.  45. 

9)  Lectures  on  the  History  of  Literature;    New  York,   1841, 
350. 


280  TRIBUTES    TO   LUTHER. 

endowed,  said:  "Luther  is  too  great,  too  wonderful  for  me 
to  depict  in  words."  "There  was  probably  never  created 
a  more  powerful  human  being,  a  more  gigantic,  full-pro- 
portioned man,  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  term.  All  that 
belongs  to  human  nature,  all  that  goes  to  constitute  a  man, 
had  a  strongly-marked  development  in  him.  He  was  a  model 
man,  one  that  might  be  shown  to  other  beings  in  other  parts 
of  the  universe  as  a  specimen  of  collective  manhood  in  its 
maturest  growth."  10)  «jje  was  a  complete  man,  I  would  say, 
an  absolute  man,  one  in  whom  matter  and  spirit  were  not 
divided.  To  call  him  a  spiritualist,  therefore,  would  be  as 
great  an  error  as  to  call  him  a  sensualist.  .  .  .  He  had 
something  original,  incomprehensible,  miraculous,  such  as 
we  find  in  all  providential  men,  —  something  invincible, 
spirit-possessed."  ii)  "His  moral  courage,  his  undaunted 
firmness,  his  strong  conviction,  and  the  great  revolution 
which  he  effected  in  society,  place  him  in  the  first  rank  of 
historical  characters.  The  form  of  the  monk  of  Wittenberg, 
emerging  from  the  receding  gloom  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
appears  towering  above  the  sovereigns  and  warriors,  states- 
men and  divines  of  the  sixteenth  century,  who  were  his  con- 
lemporaries,  his  antagonists,  or  his  disciples."  i^)  "jf  -^ye 
Tecall,  among  other  great  names  in  German  history,  the 
Tlefonners  Melanchthon  and  Zwingli,  the  Saxon  electors, 
Frederick  the  Wise  and  John  the  Constant,  Gustavus 
Adolphus  and  Frederick  the  Great;  or,  among  intellectual 
celebrities,  Klopstock  and  Lessing,  -Hamann  and  Herder, 
Goethe  and  Schiller;  or  turn  to  the  great  religious  reformers 
of  the  last  centuries,  Spener,  Francke,  Zinzendorf,  Bengel, 
and  Lavater,  they  all  exhibit  many  features  of  relationship 
with  Luther,  and  in  some  qualities  may  even  surpass  him, 
but  none  stands  out  a  Luther.  One  is  deficient  in  the  poetic 
impulse  or  the  fulness  and  versatility  of  his  nature ;    another 


10)  Dr.   Calvin   E.   Stowe,   quoted   in   Seiss's   Luther   and   the 
Reformation,   p.  123. 

11)  Heine. 

12)  Cyclopaedia  of  British  Society,  Vol.  XIII,  p.  207. 


TRIBUTES   TO  LUTHER.  281 

wants  liis  depth  of  relij»ious  feeling,  his  firmness  of  purpose, 
and  strength  of  character;  others,  again,  want  his  eloquence 
or  influence  over  his  contemporaries.  J^uther  would  not 
have  been  Luther  witliout  these  three  leading  features:  his 
strong  faith,  his  spiritual  eloquence,  and  firmness  of  character 
and  fjurpose.  He  united  —  and  this  is  the  most  extra- 
ordinary fact  connected  with  him  —  to  large  endowments  of 
mind  and  heart,  and  the  great  gift  of  imparting  these  in- 
tellectual treasures,  the  invincible  power  of  original  and 
creative  thought,  both  in  resisting  and  influencing  the  outer 
world."  ^'^j  Nor  did  he  only  outrank  in  greatness  his  con- 
temporaries. "Between  the  first  century,  when  Christianity 
appeared  in  its  youth,  and  the  sixteenth,  when  it  obtained 
the  maturity  of  its  riper  age,  not  one  of  our  race  has  appeared 
in  whom  the  ever  creative  spirit  of  God,  the  spirit  of  light 
and  of  law,  has  found  nobler  endowment,  or  wrought  with 
richer  sequence."  ^^)  Ranked  by  many  as  the  greatest  man 
in  history  after  the  Apostle  Paul,  regarded  as  the  man  "who 
accomplished  more  for  his  race  than  any  man  in  history  after 
the  incomparable  St.  Paul,"  ^•'j  eminently  endowed  by  the 
God  he  served  so  faithfully  and  so  well,  he  indeed  stands 
before  the  world,  as  Melanchthon  called  him,  "a  miracle 
among  men."  Filled  with  admiration  for  him,  the  brilliant 
Carlyle,  in  seeking  to  extol  his  greatness,  eloquently  said: 
"I  will  call  this  Luther  a  true  great  man;  great  in  intellect, 
in  courage,  affection,  and  integrity;  one  of  the  most  lovable 
and  precious  men.  Great,  not  as  a  hewn  obelisk,  but  as  an 
Alpine  mountain,  —  so  simple,  honest,  spontaneous,  not  set- 
ting up  to  be  great  at  all;  there  for  quite  another  purpose 
than  being  great.  Ah  yes,  unsubdued  granite,  piercing  far 
and  wide  into  the  heavens ;  yet  in  the  clefts  of  its  fountains, 
green,  beautiful  valleys  with  flowers !  A  right  spiritual  hero 
and  ])rophet;    once  more,  a  true  son  of  Nature  and  Fact,  for 


13)  Gelzer,    in    tlio    pictured    Life    of    Luther    by    Konig    and 
Gelzer. 

14)  Stang,  in  closing  his  biography  of  Liitlior. 

15)  Schaflf. 


282  TRIBUTES    TO   LUTHER. 

whom  these  centuries,  and  many  that  are  to  come  yet,  will 
be  thanlvful  to  heaven."  I'-'i     Then 

...  let  the  pope  and  priest  their  victor  scorn, 
Each  fault  reveal,   each  imperfection   scan, 
And  by  their  fell  anatomy  of  hate 
His  life  dissect  with  satire's  keenest  edge,  — 
But  still  may  Luther,  with  his  mighty  heart, 
Defy  their  malice.  .  .  . 

.  .  .  Far  beyond  them  soars  the  soul 
They  slander;     from  his  tomb  there  still  comes  forth 
A  magic  which  appals  them  by  its  power; 
And  the  brave  monk  who  made  the  popedom  rock 
Champions  a  world  to  show  his  equal  yet.  17) 

More  than  two  hundred  biographies  have  been  written  of  him 
in  Latin,  German,  Trench,  English,  Danish,  Swedish,  Italian,. 
Spanish,  Russian,  Polish,  and  Lithuanian.18)  "A  glance  at 
the  catalog  of  almost  any  great  library,  that  of  the  British 
Museum  for  instance,  will  show  that  more  has  been  written 
about  Luther  than  about  any  man,  save  one,  who  ever 
lived."  19) 

The  Reformation  of  the  Church,  under  God,  was  the 
work  of  Martin  Luther,  "whom  God  made  choice  of  before 
others  to  be  of  highest  eminence  and  power  in  reforming  the 
Church,"  20)  and  "never  scarcely  did  the  hand  of  God  form 
a  fitter  instrument  to  do  a  greater  work."  21)  "The  Refor- 
mation sprang  living  from  his  own  heart,  where  God  Himself 
had  placed  it."  22)  "In  the  providence  of  God  all  the  prin- 
ciples of  reform  were  condensed  'and  capitalized  in  the 
person  of  Luther,  and  then  flamed  forth  upon  Europe."  23) 


16)  Heroes  and  Hero  Worship,  p.  127. 

17)  Montgomery's  Luther. 

18)  Boehmer,  Luther  in  the  Light  of  Recent  Research,  p.  7. 

19)  Dr.  Preserved  Smith.  20)    John  Milton. 

21)  F.  A.  Cox,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.   (London),   in  The  Life  of  Philip 
M  elanchthon. 

22)  D'Aubigne's  Voice  of  the  Church. 

23)  Dr.  Newell  Dwight  Hillis,  in  All  the  Year  Round. 


TEIBUTES   TO  LUTHER.  283 

"A  sense  of  duty,  acting  on  an  nnconquered  heart,  sent  him 
forth  single-handed  to  encounter  hosts  of  obdurate  foes; 
and,  by  the  bent  of  his  uplifted  arm,  he  shook  the  authority 
of  the  high  pontificate  which  kept  the  potentates  of  the 
earth  in  thraldom,  and  brought  down  the  peering  altitude 
of  that  olden  tyranny  whose  head  was  raised  to  heaven,  and 
whose  base  was  fixed  in  the  deepest  prejudice.  Ilis  lone  heart 
nourished  the  germ  of  the  greatest  revolution  that  world 
ever  saw.  Many  heads  caught  his  enthusiastic  ardor;  and 
his  voice  was  echoed  from  the  most  distant  corners  of  Europe. 
He  entered  the  field  as  a  champion  of  the  rights  of  humanity, 
his  might  overcame  every  difficulty,  and  he  stood  forward  as 
the  victorious  conqueror  of  ignorance  and  imposture.  .  .  . 
Luther  did  more  for  the  success  of  a  mighty  cause  than  any 
had  before  achieved  in  the  history  of  the  world.  From  his 
deep,  silent,  and  meditative  spirit  an  impulse  was  given  to 
the  mechanism  of  human  society  which  it  never  till  then 
received."  ^4)  "The  words  of  Luther  set  the  world  ablaze 
with  a  new  era."  25)  The  opinions  propagated  by  him  "led 
to  that  happy  reformation  in  religion  which  rescued  one 
part  of  Europe  from  the  papal  yoke,  mitigated  its  rigor  in 
another,  and  produced  a  revolution  in  the  sentiments  of 
mankind  greater,  as  well  as  the  most  beneficial,  than  has 
happened  since  the  publication  of  Christianity."  ^6)  "Luther's 
teaching  of  justification  by  faith,"  which  was  the  central 
doctrine  of  the  Reformation,  "changed  the  face  of  the  whole 
world."  27)  He  "freed  religion,  and  by  that  he  freed  all 
things."  28)  "There  is  no  province  of  human  intelligence 
and  action  which  was  not  refreshed  and  fertilized  by  the 
universal  effort,"  Luther's  Ileformation,29)  so  that  "all  human 
progress  must  remember  Martin  Luther."  30)    "The  Reforma- 


24)  Dr.  Chalmers,  in  a  sermon  preached  in  London. 

25)  Prof.  Cbas.  Briggs,  Union  Seminary. 

26)  Robertson's  Charles  V. 

27)  Berger,  Kulturaufgaben  der  Reformation. 

28)  Adolph  Harnack. 

29)  Taine,  English  Literature,  Bk.  II,  chap.  1. 

30)  Phillips  Brooks. 


284  TRIBUTES    TO   LUTHER. 

tion  .  .  .  exercised  its  beneficial  influence  not  only  throughout 
Germany,  but  over  the  whole  civilized  world,  and  it  is  in 
this  sense  that  the  Reformation  is  universally  considered 
as  the  beginning  of  a  New  Era  in  the  history  of  the  world. 
The  Reformation  is  the  source,  directly  or  indirectly,  by 
action  or  by  reaction,  of  everything  great  and  noble  which 
has  taken  place  from  about  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  Through  the  Reformation  alone  men  of  all  creeds 
have  become  free  and  enlightened.  And  this  is  tiie  reason 
why  not  only  the  theologian,  but  also  the  political  and  literary 
historian  hails  the  work  of  the  Reformation  as  one  of  the 
greatest  blessings  ever  bestowed  on  mankind."  3^)  All  this 
is  owing,  as  it  has  been  said,  "to  the  intense  personal 
conviction  and  contagious  faith  of  one  man  —  Martin 
Luther."  ^-)  Indeed,  "the  Reformation  is  Luther,"  33)  and 
"after  Luther  nothing  new  was  added  to  the  Reformation."  34) 
"Christendom  is  Luther's  monument,  for  Christendom  is 
now  predominantly  Protestant.  It  has  accepted  his  inter- 
pretation of  Christianity.  He  was  greater  than  poets  or 
emperors,  as  religion  is  higher  than  literature  or  government. 
His  monument  ...  it  is  all  about  us ;    it  is  in  us."  35) 

Xow,  "the  principles  of  the  Reformation  for  which  Luther 
lived  and  was  ready  to  die  at  any  moment  are  the  propelling 
forces  of  modern  church  history"  and,  it  may  be  added,  of 
modern  political  history  as  well.  "They  have  stood  the  test 
of  more  than  three  hundred  years,  against  persecution  from 
without  and  corruption  from  within,  and  are  still  as  vital 
as  ever."  36)  The  principles  for  which  the  great  Reformer 
contended  so  courageously,  so  valiantly,  and  victoriously  were 
these:  the  supremacy  of  the  Bible,  the  supremacy  of  faith, 
the  supremacy  of  the  people;  also  designated,  respectively, 
as  the  formal,  the  material,  and  the  social  principles  of 
Protestantism. 


31)  Dr.  Buchheim,  professor  in  King's  College,  London. 

32)  The  Very  Rev.  Principal   John  Tulloek,   Nineteenth   Cen- 
tury, April,  1884,  p.  660. 

33)  Mr.  Morley.  34)    J.  A.  Bengel. 
35)    Xew  York  Independent.                     36)    Philip  Schaff. 


TRIBUTES   TO  LUTHER.  285 

The  first  of  these  principles  accepts  the  canonical  Scrip- 
tures of  the  Old  and  Xew  Testaments  as  the  only  infallible 
source  and  rule  of  Christian  faith  and  duty.  "It  stands 
opposed,  on  the  one  hand,  to  the  principle  of  traditionalism, 
which  so  overloads  the  Word  of  God  with  human  traditions 
as  to  hide  it  from  the  people  and  to  make  it  of  none  effect" ; 
on  the  other,  to  the  principle  of  rationalism,  which  subjects 
the  statements  of  the  inerrant  Word  of  the  Infinite  to  the 
erring-  judgment  of  man's  finite  reason.  W^ith  Luther  the 
supremacy  of  the  Bible  was  fundamental.  Xot  the  pope,  not 
the  fathers,  not  the  church  councils,  but  "the  Bible  was  to 
him  the  sole  infallible  authority,  where  every  Christian  for 
himself  could  find  the  truth  and  the  road  to  salvation,  if 
he  faithfully  and  piously  looked  for  it."  3^)  His  constant 
appeal  in  his  gigantic  struggle  with  the  forces  of  error  and 
falsehood  was  to  the  Word,  and  to  the  Word  alone.  "He 
followed  the  prophets  and  apostles  in  preference  to  the 
fathers  and  the  schoolmen.  When  Jesus  Christ  became  his 
master,  he  rejected  the  pope.  He  discarded  the  manifold 
sense,  because  he  had  found  the  divine  sense.  He  rejected 
the  decisions  of  the  councils  because  he  bowed  before  the 
decisions  of  God.  He  went  back  of  the  fathers  to  the  Father 
of  all  fathers.'"  38)  Xud  thus,  "with  the  Bible  in  his  hand, 
head,  and  heart,  he  went  forth  to  fight  his  battles  against  the 
pope  and  the  devil,  being  assured  that  'one  little  word'  of 
the  Almighty  can  slay  them.  On  this  immovable  rock  .  .  . 
the  humble  monk  took  his  stand  at  the  Diet  of  Worms,  units 
versus  mundum,  strong  in  the  sense  of  his  own  weakness, 
independent  in  the  sense  of  his  dependence,  free  in  his 
obediece  to  God  and  the  voice  of  conscience,"  3^)  and,  standing* 
on  the  Word  of  God,  on  that  occasion  which  has  been  called 
"the  greatest  scene  in  modern  European  history,  the  point, 
indeed,  from  which  the  whole  subsequent  history  of  civiliza- 
tion takes  its  rise,"  he  made  that  "good  confession,"  "sur- 


37)  James  Antliony  Froiule. 

38)  Prof.  Chas.  A.  Briggs.  in  Lit f Iter  (is  Profefisor  of  Theology, 

39)  Philip  Schaff,  in  Luther  us  a  Reformer. 


286  TRIBUTES   TO  LUTHER. 

passed  in  moral  grandeur  but  by  one  in  the  whole  history 
of  the  race."  God  was  his  trust.  His  Word,  his  stay.  And 
that  every  man  might  thus,  as  he,  base  his  faith  on  the  Word 
of  God,  and  that  alone,  he  placed  the  Bible  into  the  hands 
of  the  people  in  a  translation  which,  "one  of  the  most 
Herculanean  achievements  of  the  great  Reformer,"  '^^)  on 
account  of  its  fidelity  to  the  original,  its  felicity  of  words, 
the  dignity,  force,  and  vivacity  of  expression,  and  the 
rhythmic  melody  of  its  style,  has  "excited  an  admiration 
to  which  witness  has  been  borne  from  the  beginning  by 
friend  and  foe."  "The  remarkable  version  of  Holy  Scrip- 
tures made  by  Luther  has  superseded  all  others  in  the  German 
language,  and  is  the  universal,  standard  German  Bible,  It 
is  aclaiowledged  everywhere,  by  all  parties,  as  one  of  the 
very  best  translations  ever  made;  and  it  led  the  way  for, 
and  exerted  a  marked  influence  on,  all  the  translations  of 
the  Word  of  God  in  other  modern  tongues.  Heine  says  it 
created  the  German  language.  .  .  .  Hedge,  in  his  Prose 
Wi'iters  of  Germany^  says:  'The  modern  high  German  must 
be  considered  as  having  first  attained  its  full  development 
and  perfect  finish  in  Luther's  version  of  the  Bible.'  By 
means  of  that  Book  it  obtained  a  currency  which  nothing 
else  could  have  given  it.  It  became  fixed.  It  became  uni- 
versal. It  became  the  organ  of  a  literature,  which,  more 
than  any  other  since  the  Greek,  has  become  a  literature  of 
ideas.  It  became  the  vehicle  of  modern  philosophy,  the 
cradle  of  those  thoughts  which,  at  this  moment,  act  most 
intensely  on  the  human  mind."  41)  "All  true  philologists 
regard  this  as  the  standard  and  model  of  classical  expression 
in  the  German  language.  ...  It  is  worthy  of  notice  that 
in  no  other  modern  language  have  so  many  Biblical  words 
and  phrases  come  into  the  use  of  common  life  as  in  ours."  -^2) 
And   an©ther   Roman    Catholic    author   said  that   "Luther's 


40)  Seiss,  in  Ecclesia  Lutherana,  p.  73. 

41)  Seiss,  in  Ecclesia  Lutherana,  p.  74. 

42)  Frederick   von    Schlegel,    in    Lectures   on   the   History    of 
Literature;   New  York,  pp.  348 — 350. 


TRIBUTES    TO   LUTHER.  287 

translation  of  the  Bible  is  a  noble  monument  of  literature, 
a  vast  enterprise,  which  seemed  to  require  more  than  the 
life  of  man,  but  which  Luther  accomplished  in  a  few 
years.  .  .  .  His  translation  sometimes  renders  the  primitive 
phrase  with  touching  simplicity,  invests  itself  with  sublimity 
and  magnificence,  and  receives  all  the  modifications  which 
he  wishes  to  impart  to  it.  .  .  .  Both  Catholics  and  Prot- 
estants regarded  it  an  honor  done  to  their  ancient  idiom."  ^3) 

Let  grateful  reverence  long  that  work  admire 

0,'er  which  a  seraph's  wings  might  sliake  with  joy. 

By  Luther,  with  colossal  power,  achieved. 

There  was  the  Word  Almighty,  from  the  grave 

Of  buried  language,  into  breathing  life 

Summoned  in  saintly  glory  to  arise. 

And  speak  to  souls  what  souls  coultl  understand. 

The  words  of  truth 
Eternal  gave  their  hoary  secrets  up, 
While  God's  own  language  into  Luther's  passed, 

.  .  .  till,  behold,  the  voice 
Of  Jesus  out  of  classic  fetters  came, 
And,  like  its  Author,  to  the  poor  man  preached.  44) 

The  second  of  the  great  principles  of  the  Reformation 
was  the  supremacy  of  faith,  i.  e.,  the  Scriptural  doctrine  of 
justification  by  faith  in  distinction  from  Rome's  doctrine 
of  justification  by  works.  Around  this  doctrine  especially 
the  great  conflict  with  Rome  revolved.  "If  the  Word  of 
God,  as  the  sole  fountain  of  authority  for  the  Christian 
conscience,  as  over  against  the  authority  of  popes  and 
councils,  was  the  chief  means  of  the  Reformation,  the 
doctrine  of  that  Word  most  potent  in  the  movement  was 
justification  by  faith."  "The  underlying  principle  of  those 
propositions  (which  Luther  nailed  to  the  doors  of  the  Castle 
Church)  was  grace,  a  divine  grace  to  save  the  world,  the 
principle  of  Paul  and  St.  Augustine;  therefore  not  new, 
but  forgotten ;   a  mighty  comfort  to  miserable  people,  mocked 


43)  Audin's  Li^e  of  Luther,  eliap.  XXIV 

44)  Montgomery's  Luther,  p.  173. 


288  TRIBUTES    TO   LUTHER. 

and  cheated  and  robbed  by  a  venal  and  gluttonous  clergy."  ^-5) 
"Deeply  had  this  doctrine  been  written  on  Luther's  heart. 
Like  a  charm  it  stole  upon  his  agitated  and  agonized  con- 
science in  the  cloister  of  Erfurt.  Like  a  voice  from  heaven 
it  flashed  upon  him  while  attempting,  by  way  of  penance, 
to  climb  upon  his  knees  up  Pilate's  staircase  at  Rome,  and 
filled  his  soul,  as  it  has  the  soul  of  many  a  sinner,  with 
the  glad  consciousness  of  acceptance  in  Jesus.  ...  In  all 
his  subsequent  labors  for  God  and  the  Church  Luther  never 
ceased  to  proclaim  this  doctrine,  as  the  vital  essence  and 
sum  of  the  Reformation  he  preached,  yea,  as  the  article  by 
which  the  Church  must  stand  or  fall.  .  .  .  Indeed,  like  Paul, 
he  seemed  to  know  nothing  but  justification  by  faith  in 
the  Son  of  God,  crucified  for  sin.  It  was  wrought  in  Him. 
It  permeated  his  whole  being.  It  was  welded  to  his  spirit. 
It  was  the  center  to  which  all  his  thoughts,  feelings,  and 
hopes  gravitated.  It  was  the  spring  from  which  all  his 
heroic  impulses  came.  It  was  the  secret  of  his  strength,  both 
before  God  and  man.  As  soon  might  immortal  mind  be 
annihilated  as  the  great  truth  displaced  from  his  inmost 
soul.  .  .  .  'This  one  article,'  says  Luther,  'reigneth  in  my 
heart,'  and  this  one  article  reigns  through  all  the  work  that 
he  accomplished,  and  through  all  the  Church  which  he 
restored."  ^*')  "Xo  marvel,"  says  Cardinal  Newman,  "that 
he  has  given  us  the  clearest,  fullest,  joyfulest  exposition  of 
saving  faith  extant  in  Christian  literature."  "No  one  since 
the  time  of  the  apostles  has  ever  taught  more  clearly  and 
faithfully  the  article  of  justification."  -i')  "He  was  appointed 
in  the  counsels  of  Providence,  by  no  means-  exclusive  of 
the  other  reformers,  but  in  a  manner  more  extraordinary  and 
much  superior,  to  teach  mankind,  after  upwards  of  a  thousand 
years'  obscurity,  this  great  evangelical  tenet,  compared  with 
which  how  little  appear  all  other  objects  of  controversy! 
He  proved   by  numberless   arguments  from  the   Scriptures, 


45)  John  Lord,  in  Beacon  Lights  of  History. 

46)  Seiss,  in  Ecclesia  Lutherana,  pp.  62 — 66. 

47 )  Bncer. 


TRIBUTES   TO  LUTHER.  289 

and  particularly  by  the  marked  opposition  between  law  and 
faith,  law  and  grace,  that  in  justification  before  God  all 
sorts  of  human  works  are  excluded,  moral  as  well  as  cere- 
monial. He  restored  to  the  Christian  world  the  true  forensic 
or  judicial  sense  of  the  word  justification,  and  rescued  that 
term  from  the  erroneous  sense  in  which,  for  many  ages,  it 
had  been  misunderstood,  as  though  it  meant  infused  habits 
of  virtue,  whence  it  had  been  usual  to  confound  justification 
witli  sanctification.  By  this  doctrine,  rightlj'-  stated,  with 
all  its  adjuncts  and  dependencies,  a  new  light  breaks  in  on 
the  mind,  and  Christianity  appears  singularly  distinct,  not 
only  from  Romanism,  but  also  from  all  other  religions. 
Neither  the  superstitions  of  the  papist,  nor  the  sensibility 
of  the  humane,  nor  the  splendid  alms  of  the  ostentatious,  nor 
the  most  powerful  efforts  of  unassisted  nature,  avail  in  the 
smallest  degree  to  the  purchase  of  pardon  and  peace.  The 
glory  of  this  purchase  belongs  to  Christ  alone;  and  he  who 
in  real  humility  approves  of,  acquiesces  in,  and  rests  on, 
Him  is  the  true  Christian."  48) 

'Twas  grace  in  principle  which  Luther  taught: 
Here  is  the  lever  which  the  worhl  uplifts,  — 
"A  Savior  just  for  man  unjust  has  died!" 
Here  is  a  .truth,  whose  trumpet  voice  might  preach 
The  pope's  religion  into  airy  naught; 
A  truth  which  is  at  once  the  text  of  texts, 
Making  all  Scriptures  music  to  our  souls.  49) 

The  third  great  principle  of  the  Reformation,  the  logical 
consequence  of  the  other  two,  was  the  supremacy  of  the 
people,  i.  e.j  "the  general  priesthood  of  believers  in  opposition 
to  an  exclusive  hierarchy  or  priest-caste,  which  claims  to 
be  the  indispensable  mediator  between  God  and  man;  thus 
setting  aside  the  eternal  priesthood  of  Christ,  and  assigning 
to  the  laity  the  degrading  position  of  passive  obedience.  .  .  . 
This  principle  implies  the  right  and  duty  of  every  believer 
to  read  the  Word  of  God  in  his  vernacular  tongue,  to  go 


48)  Scott,  in  his  Luther  and  the  Lutheran  Reformation. 

49)  Montgomerj^'s  Luther. 

Four  Hundred  Years.  19 


290  TRIBUTES    TO   LUTHER. 

directly  to  the  throne  of  grace,  and  to  take  an  active  part 
in  all  the  affairs  of  the  Church  according  to  his  peculiar 
gift  and  calling.  .  .  .  The  principle  of  the  general  priest- 
hood of  the  Christian  people  is  the  true  source  of  religious 
and  civil  freedom" ;  ^)  for  "liberty  of  conscience,  once  se- 
cured, secures  all  the  rest."  -^i)  "The  principle  of  justification 
by  faith  alone  brought  with  it  the  freedom  of  individual 
thought  and  conscience  against  authority,"  ^2)  and,  no  less 
than  our  religious  liberty,  our  "civil  liberty  is  the  result 
of  the  open  Bible  which  Luther  gave  us."  *3)  "The  principles 
of  liberty  of  conscience  and  of  universal  priesthood,  which 
make  men  inwardly  free,  lead  also  involuntarily  to  outward 
liberty."  '^^)  Therefore,  "it  is  not  incorrect  to  say,"  says 
Michelet,  one  of  the  greatest  French  Catholic  writers  of 
recent  times,  in  the  Introduction  to  his  Life  of  Luther,  "that 
Luther  has  been  the  restorer  of  liberty  in  modern  times. 
If  he  did  not  create,  he  at  least  courageously  affixed  his 
signature  to,  that  great  resolution  which  rendered  the  right 
of  examination  lawful  in  Europe.  And  if  we  exercise,  in 
all  its  plentitude  at  this  day,  this  first  and  highest  privilege 
of  human  intelligence,  it  is  to  him  we  are  most  indebted 
for  it;  nor  can  we  think,  speak,  or  write  without  being  more 
C(Tnscious  at  every  step  of  the  immense  benefit  of  this  intel- 
lectual enfranchisement.  To  whom  do  I  owe  the  power  of 
publishing  what  I  am  now  writing  but  to  this  liberator  of 
modern  thought?"  "The  real  author  of  modern  liberty  of 
thought  and  action,"  55)  "Luther  is  the  father  of  modern  civil- 
ization. He  emancipated  the  human  mind  from  ecclesiastical 
slavery.  He  proclaimed  that  freedom  of  thought  without 
which  it  is  easy  to  see  that,  despite  the  great  modern  inven- 
tions, the  spirit  of  the  Dark  Ages  must  have  been  indefinitely 
prolonged,  and  the  course  of  modern  civilization  must  have 


50)  Dr.  Philip  Schaff. 

51)  Lord  Acton,  Roman  Catholic. 

52)  Bancroft,  I,  p.  178.  53)    Henry  Ward  Beecher. 

54)  Geffcken,  Church  and  ^iate. 

55)  James  Freeman  Clark. 


TRIBUTES   TO  LUTHER.  291 

been  essentially  ditierent."  •^'•.)  "Had  there  been  no  Luther,  the 
English,  American,  and  German  peoples  would  be  acting 
differently,  would  be  altogether  different  men  and  women 
from  what  they  are  at  this  moment."  ^")  "He  moved  Europe 
by  ideas  which  emancipated  the  millions,  and  set  in  motion 
a  progress  which  is  the  glory  of  our  age,"  ^^)  and  he  is,  there- 
fore, "the  author  of  the  civil  liberty  that  is  enjoyed  to- 
day." s*')  "The  establishment  of  the  Republic  of  America 
is  a  corollary  of  the  Reformation,"  ^'^)  and,  therefore,  back  of 
all  Pilgrim  Fathers,  our  pioneer  settlers,  our  heroes  and 
martyrs,  statesmen  and  reformers,  stands  the  broad  figure  of 
the  man  of  Erfurt  and  Wittenberg,  Worms  and  Speyer."  ^-'^) 
"The  inalienable  rights  of  an  American  citizen  are  nothing 
but  the  Protestant  idea  of  the  general  priesthood  of  all 
believers  applied  to  the  civil  sphere,  or  dev^eloped  into  the 
corresponding  idea  of  the  general  kingship  of  free  men."  ^-) 
"Xo  country  has  more  reason  than  this  Republic  to  recall 
with  joy  the  blessings  Lmther  assisted  to  secure  for  the  world, 
in  emancipating  thought  and  conscience,  and  impressing 
the  stamp  of  Christianity  upon  modern  civilization."  'J'^l  The 
Protestants  of  the  United  States  may  well  believe  that 
without  the  Reformation  they  would  have  been  rather  like 
South  Americans  before  the  revolutions,  than  what  they  now 
are,  the  wonder,  the  admiration,  and  the  example  of  the 
world."  '^^)  "The  free  millions  of  the  United  States  may, 
therefore,   well    rise   up    and   do    him   honor,    by   cherishing 


5G)    Geo.  W.  Curtis. 

57)  James  Anthony  Fronde,  Luther,  a  8ho7~t  Biography,  p.  4. 

58)  John  Lord's  Beacon  Lights,  Loyola,  p.  305. 

59)  Associate  Jnstiee  Strong. 

60)  Charles  Francois  Dominique  de  X'illeis.  Professor  of  Plii- 
losophy,  University  of  Goettingen. 

61 )  Christian  Intelligencer. 

62)  Philip  SchaflF,  Creed^s,  p.  219. 

63)  The  Hon.  John  Jay  at  the  Luther  Celebration,  Academy 
of  Music.  Xew  York,  Xovenihcr  lo.  ISS.S. 

64)  Tlionu's  Sniitli  Griinkc. 


292  TRIBUTES    TO   LUTHER. 

his   example,   pondering   his   history,    and    maintaining   his 
creed."  ^^)  • 

"The  greatness  of  some  men  only  makes  us  feel  that, 
though  they  did  well,  others  in  their  places  might  have  done 
just  as  they  did.  Luther  had  that  exceptional  greatness 
which  convinces  the  world  that  he  alone  could  have  done 
the  work.  He  was  not  a  mere  mountaintop,  catching  a  little 
earlier  the  beams  which,  by  their  own  course,  would  soon  have 
found  the  valleys;  but  rather,  by  the  divine  ordination  under 
which  he  rose,  like  the  sun  itself,  without  which  the  light 
on  mountain  and  valley  would  have  been  but  a  starlight  or 
a  moonlight.  He  was  not  a  secondary  orb,  reflecting  the 
light  of  another  orb,  as  was  Melanchtllon  and  even  Calvin; 
still  less  the  moon  of  a  planet,  as  Bucer  or  Brentius;  but 
the  center  of  undulations  which  filled  a  system  with  glory. 
Yet,  though  he  rose  wondrously  to  a  divine  ideal,  he  did  not 
cease  to  be  a  man  of  men.  He  won  the  trophies  of  power 
and  the  garlands  of  affection.  Potejitates  feared  him,  and 
little  children  played  with  him.  He  has  monuments  in 
marble  and  bronze,  medals  in  silver  and  gold;  but  his  noblest 
monument  is  the  best  love  of  the  best  hearts,  and  the 
brightest,  purest  impressiofi  of  his  image  has  been  left  in 
the  souls  of  regenerated  nations.  He  w^as  the  best  teacher  of 
freedom  and  loyalty.  PTe  has  made  the  righteous  throne 
stronger  and  the  innocent  cottage  happier.  He  knew  how 
to  laugh  and  how^  to  weep;  therefore,  millions  laughed  with 
him,  and  millions  wept  for  him.  He  was  tried  by  deep 
sorrow  and  brilliant  fortune;  he  begged  the  poor  scholar's 
bread,  and  from  emperor  and  estates  of  the  realm  received 
an  embassy,  with  a  prince  at  his  head,  to  ask  him  to  untie 
the  knot  which  defied  the  power  of  the  soldier  and  the 
sagacity  of  the  statesman ;  it  was  he  who  added  to  the  Litany 
the  words:  'In  all  time  of  our  tribulation,  in  all  time  of 
our  prosperity,  help  us,  good  Lord';  but  whether  lured  by 
the  subtlest  flattery  or  assailed  by  the  powers  of  hell,  tempted 


65)    Bishop    Thorold    of   Rochester,    England,    in    Philadelphia 
Press  of  November  10,  1883. 


TRIBUTES    TO   LUTHER.  293 

with  the  miter,  or  threatened  with  the  stake,  he  came  off 
more  than  conqueror  in  all.  He  made  a  world  rich  forever - 
more,  and,  stripping  himself  in  perpetual  charities,  died  in 
poverty.  He  knew  how  to  command,  for  he  had  learned  how 
to  obey.  Had  he  been  less  courageous,  he  would  have  at- 
tempted nothing;  had  he  been  less  cautious,  he  would  have 
ruined  all :  the  torrent  was  resistless,  but  the  banlvs  were 
deep.  He  tore  up  the  mightiest  evils  by  the  root,  but  shielded 
with  his  own  life  the  tenderest  bud  of  good;  he  combined 
the  aggressiveness  of  a  just  radicalism  with  the  moral  re- 
sistance —  which  seemed  to  the  fanatic  the  passive  weak- 
ness —  of  a  true  conservatism.  Faith-inspired,  he  was  faith- 
inspiring.  Great  in  act  as  he  was,  great  in  thought,  proving 
himself  fire  with  fire,  'inferior  eyes  grew  great  by  his  ex- 
ample, and  put  on  the  dauntless  spirit  of  resolution.'  The 
world  knows  his  faults.  He  could  not  hide  what  he  was. 
His  transparent  candor  gave  his  enemies  the  material  of 
their  misrepresentation;  but  they  cannot  blame  his  infirmi- 
ties without  bearing  witness  to  the  nobleness  which  made 
him  careless  of  the  appearances  in  a  world  of  defamers.  For 
himself  he  had  as  little  of  the  virtue  of  caution  as  he  had, 
toward  others,  of  the  vice  of  dissimulation.  Living  under 
thousands  of  jealous  and  hating  eyes,  in  the  broadest  light 
of  day,  the  testimony  of  his  enemies  but  fixes  the  result : 
that  his  faults  were  those  of  a  nature  of  the  most  consummate 
grandeur  and  fulness,  faults  more  precious  than  the  virtues 
of  the  common  great.  Four  potentates  ruled  the  mind  of 
Europe  in  the  Reformation,  the  Emperor,  Erasmus,  the 
Pope,  and  Luther.  The  Pope  wanes,  Erasmus  is  little,  the 
Emperor  is  nothing,  but  Luther  abides  as  a  power  for  all 
time.  His  image  casts  itself  upon  the  current  of  all  ages, 
as  the  mountain  mirrors  itself  in  the  river  that  winds  at 
its  foot,  —  the  mighty  fixing  itself  immutably  upon  the 
changing."  ^6) 


00)    Krniitli.  ConscrraUrc  Reformaiion,  pp.  86.  87 


294     LUTHER  AND  THE  COXSTITUTIOX  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Luther  and  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States. 

Prof.  Geo.  A.  Romoser.  Concordia  College,  Bronxville,  N.  Y. 

"We,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form 
a  more  perfect  union,  establish  justice,  insure  domestic 
tranquillity,  provide  for  the  common  defense,  promote  the 
general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  our- 
selves and  our  posterity,  do  ordain  and  establish  this  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States  of  America."  The  noble  words 
of  this  Preamble  sound  the  keynote  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States.  The  peoples  who  live  under  the  egis  of 
this  instrument  of  government  are  to  be  secured  in  the 
undisturbed  possession  of  certain  "inalienable  rights,"  among 
which  are  "life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness."  And 
by  no  means  the  least  precious  of  these  prerogatives  of  citizen- 
ship under  this  fundamental  law  of  government  is  liberty 
of  conscience  and  freedom  of  w^orship. 

Awed  at  the  success  attained  and  at  the  responsibility 
involved,  the  first  President  of  our  country  said  in  his  in- 
augural speech  to  Congress  in  1789 :  "It  would  be  peculiarly 
improper  to  omit,  in  this  first  official  act,  my  fervent  sup- 
plications to  that  Almighty  Being  who  rules  over  the  universe, 
who  presides  in  the  councils  of  nations,  and  whose  provi- 
dential aids  can  supply  every  human  defect,  that  His  bene- 
diction may  consecrate  to  the  liberties  and  happiness  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States  a  government  instituted  by 
themselves  for  these  essential  purposes,  and  may  enable  every 
instrument  employed  in  its'  administration  to  execute,  with 
success,  the  functions  allotted  to  his  charge.  In  tendering 
this  homage  to  the  Great  Author  of  every  public  and  private 
good,  I  assure  myself  that  it  expresses  your  sentiments  not 
less  than  my  own,  nor  those  of  my  fellow-citizens  at  large 
less  than  either.  No  people  can  be  bound  to  acknowledge 
and  adore  the  Invisible  Hand  which  conducts  the  affairs  of 
men  more  than  the  people  of  the  United  States.  Every  step 
by  which   they  have   advanced  to   the   character   of   an   in- 


LUTHER  A^D  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.      295 

dependent  nation  seems  to  have  been  distinguished  by  some 
token  of  providential  agency."  It  may  well  be  that  George 
Washington  spoke  far  more  wisely  than  he  knew.  The  full 
truth  is,  that  God's  providence  in  the  Reformation  of  the 
sixteenth  century  set  forth  the  principles  of  liberty  the 
fruition  of  which  men  are  enjoying  to-daj^  under  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States.  Charles  Dudley  Warner  is 
right  when  he  says  that  the  United  States  are  to-day  what 
they  are  largely  because  o:&  the  life  of  Martin  Luther. 

Before  the  sixteenth  century  the  two  great  obstacles 
that  lay  in  the  way  of  political  and  civil  liberty  were  a  wrong 
view  concerning  the  State  and  its  functions  and  the  arrogant 
l)retensions  of  the  pope.  According  to  the  prevailing  view 
of  government,  the  individual  citizen  counted  little  or 
nothing,  while  all  emphasis  was  laid  on  the  power  and  pre- 
rogatives of  the  State.  Whatever  attempts  were  made  during 
the  Middle  Ages  to  change  the  conditions  that  were  fostered 
by  this  idea  of  government,  failed  to  reach  the  root  of  the 
evil  and  to  eliminate  the  pernicious  idea,  from  the  practical 
affairs  of  government,  that  the  State  was  not  for  the  people, 
but  the  people  for  the  State.  There  was  needed  a  reforma- 
tion, or  rather,  a  revolution,  by  which  the  mind  of  the  common 
man  M'ould  be  freed  from  the  obsession  of  prevailing  con- 
ditions, and  imbued  with  the  worth  and  dignity  and  responsi- 
bility of  the  individual.  Not  until  this  soil  and  environment 
had  been  created  could  the  seed  of  true  liberty  take  root,  and 
blossom  forth  into  a  tree  of  precious  fruitage. 

As  for  the  proud  pretensions  of  papal  power  during  the 
time  of  its  supremacy,  why  clutter  these  pages  with  the  debris 
of  the  exploded  claims  put  forth  by  him  who,  in  a  long  line 
of  individuals,  vaunted  himself  as  the  successor  of  Peter,  the 
Apostle  of  Jesus,  and  as  the  custodian  of  the  two  swords  of 
secular  and  spiritual  power?  As  late  as  1516,  in  the  year 
before  Luther  nailed  the  Ninety-five  Theses  on  the  door  of 
the  Wittenberg  Castle  Church,  Poi)e  Leo  X  reasserted  the 
claim  to  universal  sovereignty  in  the  bull  Pastor  Aeternus. 
His  predecessors,  of  whatever  name,  whether  Alexander  or 
Boniface  or  Gregory,  could  claim  no  more,  and  certainly  did 


296     LUTHER*  AND  THE  COXSTITUTIOX  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

claim  nothing  less  than  absolute  supremacy  in  matters  of 
Church  and  in  matters  of  State. 

Thus  the  shackles  were  doubly  riveted,  and  the  power  by 
which  men's  minds  were  held  in  the  spiritual  bondage  of 
dependence  on  the  word  of  teaching  and  on  the  prerogative 
of  forgiveness  entrusted  alone  to  the  reputed  Vicar  of  Christ, 
was  energized  by  the  power  to  inflict,  on  king  and  subject 
alike,  the  pains  and  penalties  of  bodily  torment.  No  prince 
was  too  exalted  on  his  throne,  no  peasant  was  too  lowly  in 
the  obscurity  of  his  hovel  to  feel  the  vengeance  of  the  Church 
that  wielded  the  naked  sword  of  power  over  the  governments 
and  lives  of  men.  In  this  atmosphere  of  tyranny  and  stag- 
nation the  tree  of  liberty  could  not  thrive;  and  the  tender 
shoots  that  it  did,  at  times,  put  forth  were  soon  blasted  by 
the  fiery  breath  of  anathema  and  persecution.  The  Truth 
was  not  without  its  witnesses 'also  in  those  days;  but  the 
voice  of  him  crying  in  the  wilderness  could  not  prevail 
against  the  hurricane  of  wrath  that  burst  on  the  devoted 
head  of  any  one  who  dared  to  protest  against  the  tyranny 
that  dominated  the  lives  of  men.  In  the  unchanged  course 
of  events  the  dream  of  liberty  could  never  have  been  realized 
as  it  has  been  realized  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  But  the  course  of  events  was  changed,  and  the 
mightiest  factor,  under  the  Providence  of  God,  in  breaking 
the  power  of  absolutism  and  tyranny,  was  the  monk  and 
Doctor  of  Divinity,  Martin  Luther. 

Luther  was,  in  the  full  sense  of  the  word,  a  reformer  in 
the  domain  of  religion.  He  protested  against  the  false 
doctrine  and  pagan  practises  that  had  been  foisted  on  the 
Church.  Lie  appealed  from  pope  and  from  councils  and 
from  tradition  to  the  written  Word  of  the  living  God.  He 
was  intent  on  driving  the  money-changers  from  the  Temple, 
and  on  purging  the  altar  of  strange  fires,  in  order  that  there 
might  be  a  place  for  the  pure  preaching  of  the  Word  of  God 
and  for  the  administration  of  the  uncorrupted  Sacraments. 
The  Bible  must  be  placed  into  the  hands  of  the  common 
man.  It  must  be  translated  into  the  language  that  the 
people  could  understand,  so  that  each  one  might  read  and 


LUTHER  AND  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE   UNITED  STATES.      297 

« 

search  and  determine  for  himself  what  is  the  will  of  God. 
Therefore,  he  must  learn  to  read  and  to  think,  and  to  pass 
judgment  for  himself.  No  Ibnger  dare  he  content  himself 
with  taking  his  doctrine  and  beliefs  ready-made  from  the 
hand  of  the  priest;  he  must  give  answer,  and  he  must  know 
from  the  authority  of  the  inspired  Kecord  of  Revelation 
what  is  error  and  what  is  truth.  The  responsibility  for  what 
man  believed  and  what  he  did  became  personal.  The  common 
man  was  no  longer  merely  one  of  a  multitude,  a  pawn  on 
the  chess-board  of  life.  There  was  awakened  in  him  the 
consciousness  of  responsibility  and  of  privilege;  and  with 
it  all  came  the  yearning  for  the  liberty  that  goes  with 
responsibility.  The  effects  were  inevitable,  and  made  them- 
selves felt  in  the  sphere  of  the  State  and  of  secular  life. 

Says  a  recent  writer  on  this  subject,  Dr.  George/  M. 
Stephenson :  "Martin  Luther  planted  himself  squarely  upon 
the  platform  upon  which  Christians  in  all  ages  have  stood  — 
the  Bible.  The  Bible  is  the  book  of  humanity,  and  because 
the  Bible  is  the  book  of  humanity,  it  is  the  book  of  democracy. 
It  follows  from  this  that  the  Bible  is  the  charter  of  liberty  — 
the  Magna  Charta  of  the  world.  Wherever  the  Bible  is 
an  open  book,  there  we  find  religious  and  political  liberty  in 
greater  or  less  degree.  The  apostles  of  liberty  in  all  lands 
have  recognized  that  the  Bible  is  the  most  effective  of  all 
instruments  to  batter  down  the  fortresses  of  ignorance  and 
despotism.  Recognizing  this  only  too  well,  the  commanders 
of  the  forces  of  despotism  have  sought  to  keep  it  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  people." 

In  his  "Appeal  to  the  German  Nobility"  Luther  found 
it  necessary  to  make  known,  somewhat  in  detail,  his  teaching 
on  the  State  and  on  temporal  power.  Emphatically  doe-^ 
he  insist  that  there  is  a  responsibility  both  of  rulers  and  of 
citizens;  that  civil  liberty  is  a  right;  that  civil  government, 
is  to  be  viewed  as  a  trust  to  be  executed  in  the  best  interests 
of  the  governed,  and  that  liberty  of  conscience,  freedom  of 
speech,  and  the  privilege  of  the  press  are  rights  of  every 
individual.  The  frequently  recurring  statements  concerning 
the  divine  origin  of  the  State  have  been  misunderstood  by 


298      LUTHER  AND  THE  COXSTITUTIOX   OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

many  writers  to  have  reference  to  the  origin  of  particular 
states,  particular  forms  of  government,  or  particular  rulers. 
However,  the  truth  is  that  Luther  does  not  designate  any 
particular  form  of  civil  government  as  being  of  divine  origin. 

In  the  matter  of  religious  liberty  the  statements  of  the 
Reformer  are  so  clear  and  strong  that  only  perverseness  can 
misunderstand.  At  a  time  when  the  fate  of  Hus  was  not 
yet  forgotten,  and  when  men  still  remembered  how  an 
emperor  had  broken  his  solemn  pledge  of  honor  in  order 
to  surrender  a  heretic  to  the  demands  of  Rome,  Luther  stood 
forth  and  proclaimed  in  clarion  tones  that  force  must  not 
be  used  in  matters  of  faith  and  religion,  and  that  Church 
and  State  must  remain  separate  and  distinct.  In  the  espousal 
of  these  principles  Luther  did  not  waver.  Whatever  seeming- 
modification  in  practise  there  may  have  been  is  to  be 
explained  merely  as  a  makeshift,  made  necessary,  as  he 
thought,  by  the  exigencies  of  the  times.  But  the  basic 
principle  of  the  separation  of  Church  and  State  is  expressed 
too  clearly  and  vehemently  in  all  his  writings  to  allow  of 
any  doubt  concerning  this  fundamental  doctrine. 

Reviewing  Luther's  teaching  on  religious  liberty,  the 
English  statesman  and  historian  James  Bryce  writes  in  his 
Holy  Roman  Empire:  "The  Reformation  became  a  revolt 
against  the  principle  of  authority  in  all  its  forms ;  it  erected 
the  standard  of  civil  as  well  as  of  religious  liberty,  since 
both  of  them  are  needed  in  a  different  measure  for  the  de- 
velopment of  the  individual  spirit.  .  .  .  The  empire  had 
never  been  conspicuously  the  antagonist  of  popular  freedom, 
and  was,  even  under  Charles  the  Fifth,  far  less  formidable 
to  the  commonalty  than  were  the  territorial  princes  of 
Germany.  But  submission,  and  submission  on  the  ground 
of  indefensible  transmitted  right,  upon  the  ground  of 
Catholic  traditions  and  the  duty  of  the  Christian  magistrate 
to  suffer  heresy  and  schism  as  little  as  the  parallel  sins  of 
treason  and  rebellion,  had  been  its  constant  claim  and  watch- 
word. Since  the  days  of  Julius  Ceasar  it  has  passed  through 
many  phases,  and  in  so  far  as  it  was  a  Germanic  monarchy, 
it  had  recognized  the  rights  of  the  vassals,  and  had  admitted 


LUTHER  AND  THE  CONSTITUTION   OF  THE   UNITED  STATES.      299 

the  delegates  of  tlie  cities  to  a  place  i^i  tlic  national  as- 
sembly. But  these  i)rineiples  of  the  medieval  monarchy, 
half  feudal,  half  drawn  from  Teutonic  antiquity,  principles 
themselves  now  decaying,  had  little  to  do  with  the  religious 
conceptions  and  the  Koman  traditions  on  whieli  the  theory 
of  the  empire  rested.  ,  .  .  And  hence  the  indirect  tendency 
of  the  Reformation  to  narrow  the  province  of  government 
and  exalt  the  privileges  of  the  subject  was  as  plainly  adverse 
to  what  one  may  call  the  imperial  ick^a  as  the  Protestant 
claim  of  the  right  of  i)rivate  judgment  was  to  the  pretensions 
of  the  papacy  and  the  priesthood.  The  remark  must  not  be 
omitted  in  passing  how  much  less  than  might  have  been 
expected  the  religious  movement  did  at  first  actually  eifect 
in  the  way  of  promoting  either  political  progress  or  freedom 
of  conscience.  The  habits  of  centuries  were  not  to  be  un- 
learned in  a  few  years,  and  it  was  natural  that  ideas  strug- 
gling into  existence  and  activity  should  work  erringly  and 
imperfectly  for  a  time." 

A  German  historian,  Ileeren,  in  his  Historical  Treatises, 
says  of  the  Reformation  :  "That  by  its  influence  on  Germany, 
on  the  Netherlands,  on  England,  and,  for  a  considerable 
period,  on  France,  it  became  the  origin  of  political  freedom 
in  Europe,  can  be  a  matter  of  doubt  only  to  those  who, 
'having  eyes,  see  not.' "  And  Geffcken,  in  Church  and  State, 
writes :  "It  remains  an  everlasting  title  to  glory  of  the 
Reformation  that  political  liberty  first  became  possible 
through  its  principles,  in  a  manner  very  different,  indeed, 
from  that  of  antiquity,  when  the  civil  importance  of  a  small 
minority  rested  upon  the  dark  background  of  the  slavery 
of  the  masses.  The  principles  of  liberty  of  conscience  and 
of  universal  priesthood,  which  make  man  inwardly  free, 
lead  also  involuntarily  to  outward  liberty.  A  people  who 
no  longer  feel  themselves  in  the  position  of  an  obedient  and 
submissive  laity,  at  the  service  of  a  ])rivileged  clergy,  will 
refuse  to  continue  any  longer  in  a  state  of  passive  obedience 
to  the  government  without  any  rights  of  their  own."  Tersely 
does  the  French  and  Roman  Catholic  historian  Michelet 
express  his  opinion  in  his  Life  of  Martin  Luther  in  these 


300     LUTHER  AXD  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

words :  "It  is  not  iiicorrect  to  say  that  Luther  is  the  restorer 
of  liberty  in  modern  times." 

The  principles  of  government  and  of  liberty  which  the 
great  Reformer  promulgated  so  clearly  have  found  their 
highest  expression  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
We  look  in  vain  elsewhere  for  the  same  emphatic  and  clean- 
cut  avowal  of  these  principles.  Certainly,  the  French  Revolu- 
tion did  not  espouse  these  principles.  The  French  Revolution 
was  not  a  revolt  against  absolutism,  nor  was  it  a  defense  of 
the  rights  of  the  individual.  It  made  merely  a  transfer  of 
absolutism  from  one  depository  to  another;  and  instead  of 
defending  the  rights  of  the  individual,  it  asserted  the 
authority  of  the  mass.  All  the  power  formerly  possessed 
by  the  king  was  taken  over  by  the  people,  undiminished  in 
amount,  and  untempered  in  quality.  The  only  substantial 
change  consisted  in  the  substitution  of  the  absolute  power 
of  the  people  for  the  absolute  power  of  the  prince;  and 
this  power  vaunted  itself  even  in  the  sphere  of  the  spiritual. 
But  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  stands  unequiv- 
ocally against  absolutism  in  every  form,  for  the  rights  of 
the  individual,  and  for  the  separation  of  Church  and  State. 

If,  then,  the  legend  on  the  Liberty  Bell,  "to  proclaim 
liberty  throughout  the  land  unto  all  the  inhabitants  thereof," 
has  been  realized;  if  the  two  principles  of  liberty,  the 
enfranchisement  of  the  individual  and  the  separation  of 
Church  and  State,  form  the  keystone  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  then  we  must  turn  to  the  Monk  of 
Wittenberg  to  find  the  mighty  agent  through  whom  God 
brought  anew  these  blessings  of  liberty  to  the  sons  of  men. 
Loyal  American  citizens  have  every  reason  to  join  in  a  civic 
celebration  of  the  four-hundredth  anniversary  of  the  Refor- 
mation wrought  through  Martin  Luther. 


f 

LUTHERANISM    AND    CHRISTIANITY.  301 

Lutheranism  and  Christianity. 

Prof.  W.  II.  T.  Dau,  Concordia  iSeminary,  St.  J.ouis,  Mo. 

In  a  recent  conversation  the  propriety  of  addressing  Lu- 
therans as  "Lutheran  Christians"  was  touched  upon.  How 
would  this  form  of  address  have  to  be  understood?  Does 
the. term  "Lutheran"  qualify  the  term  "Christian,"  and-  in 
what  respect?  Is  "Christian"  the  genus  and  "Lutheran" 
the  species?  If  so,  what  is  the  specific  difference  between 
the  two?  Is  there  anything  in  th^  faith  of  a  Lutheran 
that  is  not  Christian? 

Imperceptibly  such  questions  carry  one  back  to  the  very 
origin  of  the  Eeformation.  They  invite  a  scrutiny  of  Luther's 
aim  as  a  Keformer.  An  examination  of  Luther's  object  in 
opposing  Rome  is  the  more  necessary,  because,  as  regards 
this  question,  whether  Luther  reformed  the  Church  or  formed 
a  church,  whether  he  reestablished  the  Creed  or  established 
a  creed,  thtre  is  no  agreement  —  and  there  never  will  be  — 
among  those  who  hail  Luther  as  their  spiritual  leader.  "Even 
from  the  Protestant  standpoint  there  are  various,'  if  not 
mutually  contradictory,  conceptions  of  the  nature  of  the 
Reformation.  Whilst  some  perceive  in  it  merely  a  return 
to  Biblical  Christianity,  to  the  simi)le  and  pure  doctrine  of 
the  Gospel,  divested  of  all  which  they  regard  as  a  later 
addition,  as  the  'ordinance  of  men,'  and  as  a  disfigurement 
of  the  primitive  apostolic  type  of  religion  (the  holders  of 
this  view  deny  that  there  is  any  such  thing  as  historical 
development,  or  a  further  unfolding  of  what  has  once  been 
positively  given),  others  behold  in  the  Reformation  of  the 
sixteenth  century  only  the  first  impulse  to  a  movement  which, 
supported  by  the  acquired  privilege  of  free  investigation,  is 
pressing  resistlessly  forward,  thrusting  aside  everything,  of 
divine  or  human  origin,  which  lays  claim  to  authority,  and, 
consequently,  regarding  the  systems  of  belief  drawn  up  by 
the  Reformers  as  barriers  to  further  progress,  the  utter 
destruction  of  which  is  reserved  for  modern  times.  Whilst 
it  is  the  chief  concern  of  the  one  class  to  establish  the  con- 
nection of  the  Reformation,  as  to  its  principles,  with  biblico- 


302  LL'THERAXISM    AND    CHRISTIANITY. 

apostolic  Christianity,  —  whilst  they  hold  that  the  task  of 
Protestantism  consi'sts  in  the  maintenance  of  this  very  con- 
nection, the  other  class  believe  that  the  work  of  the  Reforma- 
tion will  be  accomplished  only  when  even  this  connection 
shall  be  dissolved,  —  when  mankind,  in  its  onward  march, 
shall  be  conducted  heyoncl  the  standpoint  of  that  faith  which 
the  Reformers  held  fast  as  something  that  had  not  yet  been 
superseded,  and  for  which,  as  every  page  of  their  history 
shows,  they  were  ready  to  forfeit  their  possessions  and  their 
lives.  In  a  word,  th^se  two  tendencies  bear  toward  each 
other  the  relation  of  affirmation  and  negation :  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  one  tendency  behold  in  the  Reformation 
the  restoration  to  primitive  perfection  of  that  which  had 
become  degenerated  and  distorted;  the  representatives  of  the 
other  tendency  hail  the  Reformation  as  the  dawn  of  an 
entirely  new  period,  a  time  which  is  rupturing  all  the  bonds 
v^T'hich  connect  it  with  the  past,  and  pressing  onward  toward 
a  goal  scarcely  dreamed  of  by  the  Reformers."  i)  This  state- 
ment of  the  Swiss  historian  is  not  quite  fair  to  the  one  side 
because  of  the  insinuated  charge  of  mental  stagnation;  but, 
aside  from  this,  it  fairly  summarizes  tendencies  with  which 
every  modern  reader  has  become  familiar.  We  expect  to  see 
the  contrast  which  Hagenbach  has  sketched  exhibited  again 
during  the  Quadri centenary  of  the  Reformation.  It  is, 
therefore,  worth  while  to  ascertain  how  Luther  himself 
viewed  the  relation  which  his  reformatory  work  bears  to 
the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Naming  a  church  after  a  man  smacks  of  sectarianism. 
■''Every  one  of  you  saith,  ""I  am  of  Paul ;  and  I  of  Apollos ; 
and  I  of  Cephas;  and  I  of  Christ.  Is  Christ  divided?  Was 
Paul  crucified  for  you?  Or  were  you  baptized  in  the  name 
of  Paul?"  (1  Cor.  1,  12.  13.)  The  Bible  reader  who  re- 
members this  arraignment  of  factionalism  in  the  early 
Church  is  at  once  inclined  to  declare  that  a  grave  impro- 
priety was   committed  when   a   certain   Church  was   named 


1)    Hagenbacli,   History   of  the  Reformation   in   Germany  and 
Switzerland  Chiefly.     I,  2  f. 


LUTIIEKAMSM    AND    CHRISTIANITY.  303 

Lutheran.  To  such  a  person  it  must  be  very  reassuring'  to 
be  told   that   this   is  exactly  what   Luther  himself   thought. 

As  the  designation  of  a  religious  society  the  term  "Lu- 
theran" has  been  traced  to  one  of  Luther's  iiercest  opponents, 
the  Romanist  Dr.  Eck.  He  employed  it  when  i)romulgating 
the  bull  Exsurge,  Domine  of  June  15,  1520,  by  which  Pope 
Leo  X  declared  Luther  excommunicated  from  the  Church.-) 
His  successor,  Adrian  VI,  speaks  of  "the  Lutheran  sect" 
and  "the  Lutherans"  in  his  instructions  to  the  Legate  Fran- 
cesco Chieregati  at  the  Diet  of  Xuernberg,  which  met  toward 
the  close  of  the  year  1522."^) 

Luther  was  quick  to  perceive  the  danger  that  must  arise 
to  his  followers  from  having  the  movement  which  he  had 
inaugurated  stamped  with  his  name.  As  he  viewed  it,  the 
danger  was  twofold:  on  the  one  hand,  a  false  foundation 
for  men's  faith  might  be  created  by  their  espousing  Luther's 
teaching  hecduse  it  ivas  Luther's,  and  by  coei^/cing  others 
to  do  the  same;  on  the  other  hand,  men  might  jeopardize 
their  peace  of  conscience  by  forswearing  allegiance  to  Luther 
in  order  to  escape  persecution,  when  in  reality  they  would, 
by  casting  aside  Luther,  reject  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Luther  set  himself  resolutely  to  combat  this  danger.  Dis- 
quieting rumors  of  excesses  that  were  being  perpetrated  by 
radical  followers  of  the  evangelical  teaching  had  reached 
Luther  at  the  Wartburg.  Tp  obtain  a  clear  insight  into  the 
actual  state  of  affairs,  he  made  a  secret  visit  at  Wittenberg 
in  the  beginning  of  December,  1521.  Returning  to  his  exile, 
he  wrote  his  Faithful  Admonition  to  All  Christians  to  Avoid 
Tumult  and  Rehellion.  It  was  published  January  19,  1522. 
In  this  treatise  he  says :  "I  must  admonish  some  who  bring 
reproach  upon  the  holy  Gospel  and  cause  many  to  fall  away 
from  it.     For  there  are  people  who,  after  reading  a   page 


2)  Krauth,  Conservative  Reformation,  p.  117.  On  Eck's  ac- 
tivity in  publishing  this  vile  document  see  Gieseler.  Ercles.  Hist. 
IV.  51  ff.  J.  A.  McHugh  (Cath.  Encijcl.  9,  408 )  claims  that  Eck 
used  tlie  term  "Lutlieians"  eveji  dnriiig  the  (lel)ate  at  Leipzig 
in  1519. 

3)  Luther's  Works.  St.  L.  Ed.  1.5,  212.")  IV. 


304  LLTHEEAXISM    AND    CHKISTIANITY. 

or  two,  or  hearing  a  sermon,  proceed  heltfir-skelter  to  rusb 
at  others,  and  denounce  them  for  not  being  evangelical^ 
although  the  people  whom  they  attack  are  often  plain,  simple 
folk,  who  would  gladly  learn  the  truth  if  some  one  would 
teach  it_  them/  I  have  not  taught  any  one  to  act  thus,  and 
St.  Paul  has  voiced  his  strong  disapproval  of  such  a  pro- 
ceeding. The  aim  of  such  people  is  to  appear  as  men  who 
know  something  new,  and  to  be  regarded  as  good  Lutherans. 
But  they  are  recklessly  misapplying  the  holy  Gospel.  By 
such  doings  you  will  never  drive  the  Gospel  into  people's 
hearts;  you  will  rather  scare  them  away,  and  you  will  have 
a  grievous  thing  to  answer  for,  because  you  have  driven  them 
from  the  truth.  Stop,  you  fool,  listen  and  let  me  tell  you: 
In  the  first  place,  I  beg  not  to  have  my  name  mentioned, 
and  to  call  people,  not  Lutheran,  but  Christian.  What  is 
Luther  ?  The  doctrine  i^  not  mine,  nor  have  I  been  crucified 
for  any  on^.  St.  Paul  (1  Cor.  3,  4.  5)  woiild  not  suffer 
Christians  to  be  called  after  Paul  or  Peter,  but  only  after 
Christ.  Why  should  I  —  miserable  piece  of  corruption  that 
I  am  —  have  this  honor  that  the  children  of  Christ  should 
be  called  after  my  abominable  name?  No,  no,  my  dear 
friends;  let  us  abolish  party -names,  and  be  called  Christians 
after  Christ,  whose  doctrine  we  have.  The  papists  deserve 
to  have  a  party-name,  for  they  are  not  content  with  the  doc- 
trine and  name  of  Christ;  they  want  to  be  popish  also.  Well, 
let  them  be  called  popish,  for  the  pope  is  their  master. 
I  am*  not,  and  I  do  not  want  to  be,  anybody's  master.  I  share 
with  the  Church  the  one  common  doctrine  of  Christ,  who 
alone  is  our  Master  (Matt.  23,  S)."-!) 

The  letter  which  Luther  wrote  to  the  impetuous  knight 
Ulrich  von  Hutten  about  this  time  has  been  lost.  If  it  were 
extant,  it  would  only  corroborate  the  statement  quoted  from 
the  Admonition.  Luther  refers  to  it  in  a  letter  to  his  friend 
Spalatin,  who  was  still  tarrying  at  Worms,  on  January  IG, 
1522.  "What  Hutten  has  in  mind  you  can  see"  (from  the 
enclosed  writings  of  the  knight).  "I  would  not  like  to  see 
men  fight  for  the  Gospel  with  force,  and  bloodshed.     I  have 


4)    St.  L.  Ed.  10,  370  f. 


LUTHERAN  ISM    A>'I)    CHRISTIANITY.  305 

answered  the  person  (clem  Menschen)  accordingly.  By  the 
Word  the  world  has  been  overcome,  the  Church  has  been 
preserved;  by  the  Word  it  will  also  be  restored.  And  as 
to  Antichrist,  he  began  his  rule  without  physical  force,  and 
will  also  be  destroyed  without  physical  force,  by  the  Word."  ^) 

Two  months  later  (about  the  middle  of  March,  1522), 
when  he  hiid  returned  to  Wittenberg,  Luther  published  the 
comforting  letter  which  he  had  written  to  one  of  the  most 
lovable  characters  in  the  early  days  of  the  Reformation,  the 
noble  ITartmuth  von  Kronberg.  With  others  this  noble- 
man had  incurred  tlie  fierce  hatred  of  the  Romanists  because 
he  was  publiclj'  championing  Luther's  cause.  Luther  writes 
hiiii:  "We  have  to  thank  God  with  our  whole  heart  because 
He  still  gives  evidence  that  He  will  not  suffer  His  holy 
Word  to  be  removed,  for  He  has  given  to  you  and  many 
others  a  love  for  His  Word  and  a  spirit  that  avoids  offense. 
For  this  proves  that  these  people  do  not  believe  on  account 
of  a  man,  but  on  account  of  the  Word  itself.  Many  there 
are  who  believe  on  my  account ;  but  those  alone  are  sincere 
who  adhere  to  the  Word,  even  though  they  were  to  be  told 
that  I  myself  had  denied  and  fallen  away  from  the  Word  — 
which  God  forbid !  These  are  the  people  that  remain  un- 
concerned, no  matter  what  evil,  horrible,  abominable  things 
they  hear  about  me  or  my  followers.  For  they  do  not  believe 
in  Luther,  but  in  Christ  Himself.  The  Word  has  laid  hold 
of  them,  and  they  have  laid  hold  of  the  Word.  They  dis- 
regard Luther;  let  him  be  a  knave  or  a  saint,  —  God  is 
able  to  speak  through  Balaam  as  well  as  through  Isaiah, 
through  Caiaphas  as  well  as  through  St.  Peter,  yea,  through 
an  ass.  These  are  my  people.  For  I  myself  do  not  know 
Luther,  and  do  not  wish  to  know  him.  Xor  do  I  preach 
Luther,  but  Christ.  The  devil  take  Luther,  if  he  can;  but 
let  him  leave  Christ  in  peace;    then  we  also  shall  abide."  *J) 

About  the  middle  of  April,  1522,  Luther  published  his 
treatise:  Dr.  Martin  Luther's  Opinion  that  the  Sacrament 
Should  Be   Taken    in    Both   Forma,  and   Other  Innovations. 


5)    St.  L.  Ed.  ir>.  •2.-)0(;.  6)    St.  L.  Ed.  1.").  KITO. 

Fom-  Hundred  Yoars.  20 


30.6  LUTIIERA>'ISM    AXD    CHRISTIAXITY. 

He  concludes  the  first  part  of  this  treatise  with  the  words: 
"As  Paul  says,  Gal.  1,  8 :  'Though  we  or  an  angel  from 
heaven  preach  any  other  gospel  unto  you  than  that  which 
we  have  preached  unto  you,  let  him  be  accursed,'  so  say 
I,  too,  in  the  present  case:  In  this  and  all  other  matters 
you  must  so  firmly  and  surely  build  on  the  Word  of  God 
that  you  would  not  depart  from  it,  even  if  I  should  turn 
fool  —  which  God  forbid !  —  and  should  recant  and  deny  my 
doctrine.  In  that  event  you  must  say:  Though  Luther 
himself  or  an  angel  from  heaven  should  teach  another  doc- 
trine, let  it  be  accursed.  For  you  must  not  be  the  disciple 
of  Luther,  but  of  Christ.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  say:  Luther, 
Peter,  or  Paul  has  said  so,  but  you  must  feel  Christ  in  your 
ow^n  heart,  and  you  must  be  conscious  without  faltering 
that  you  have  the  Word  of  God,  even  though  the  whole  world 
should  fight  against  it.  Until  you  feel  thus,  you  surely  have 
not  yet  tasted  the  Word  of  God.  Your  ears  still  cling  to  the 
mouth  of  a  man  or  to  his  pen;  you  have  not  yet  embraced 
the  Word  with  your  inmost  heart,  and  have  not  grasped  the 
meaning  of  Matt.  23,  10:  'One  is  your  Master,  even  Christ.' 
The  Master  teaches  in  the  hearts  of  His  disciples,  however, 
through  the  external  word  of  His  preachers,  who  convey  it 
to  the  ear;  but  it  is  Christ  who  drives  the  Word  home. 
Hence,  consider  that  you  are  facing  persecution  and  death. 
In  those  trials  I  cannot  be  with  you  nor  you  with  me.  Every 
one  must  fight  for  himself,  and  overcome  the  devil,  death, 
and  the  world.  If  in  that  emergency  you  were  to  look  about 
to  see  where  I  am,  or  I  where  you  are,  and  were  to  surrender 
your  faith  because  you  were  told  that  I  or  some  one  else 
had  taught  a  different  doctrine,  you  would  perish;  for  you 
would  have  allowed  the  Word  to  slip  out  of  your  heart;  you 
would  not  be  found  clinging  to  the  Word,  but  to  me  or 
others.  There  would  be  no  help  for  you."  But  toward  the 
close  of  the  second  part  he  says  (and  this  refers  to  the 
other  danger  which  we  noted  before) :  "I  observe  that 
a  good  admonition  must  be  administered  to  those  whom 
Satan  now  begins  to  persecute.  There  are  some  among 
them   who   would   escape   danger,   when  being   attacked,   by 


LUTHERANISM    AXD   CHRISTIANITY.  307 

saying,  1  am  not  siding  with  Luther  nor  with  anybody,  but 
with  the  holy  Gospel,  or  with  the  Church,  or  with  the  Roman 
Church,')  By  such  tactics  they  secure  their  personal  peace, 
and  yet  in  their  heart  they  regard  my  doctrine  as  evangelical 
and  adhere  to  it.  Verily,  such  a  profession  does  not  help 
them;  it  is  the  same  as  if  they  had  denied  Christ.  Hence 
I  pray  these  people  to  have  a  care.  True,  you  must  not, 
on  your  life  and  soul,  say:  I  am  Lutheran,  or  papist;  for 
neither  Luther  nor  the  pope  has  died  for  you,  nor  is  he  your 
master,  but  Christ  alone,  and  to  Him  you  must  profess 
allegiance.  But  if  you  hold  that  Luther's  teaching  is  evan- 
gelical, and  the  pope's  teaching  unevangelical,  you  must  not 
utterly  cast  Luther  aside,  or  you  will  also  cast  his  teaching- 
aside,  which  you  regard  as  the  teaching  of  Christ.  This  is 
what  you  must  say :  I  do  not  care  whether  Luther  is  a  knave 
or  a  saint;  his  teaching,  however,  is  not  his,  but  Christ's 
own.  For  you  observe  that  the  tyrants  are  not  merely  seeking 
to  kill  Luther,  but  to  destroy  his  teaching.  It  is  because 
of  the  teaching  that  they  lay  hands  on  you,  and  ask  you 
whether  you  are  Lutheran.  Verily,  in  such  a  case  you  must 
not  talk  in  words  that  sway  like  a  reed,  but  must  plainly 
confess  Christ,  no  matter  whether  it  is  Luther,  Claus,  or 
George  that  has  preached  Him.  Let  go  of  the  person,  but 
confess  the  teaching.  Thus  St,  Paul,  too,  writes  to  Timothy 
(2  Tim.  1,  8) :  'Be  not  thou  ashamed  of  the  testimony  of 
our  Lord  nor  of  me,  his  prisoner.'  If  it  had  been  sufficient 
for  Timothy  to  confess  the  Gospel,  Paul  would  not  have 
commanded  him  not  to  be  ashamed  of  him,  viz.,  not  of  Paul's 
person,  but  of  Paul  as  a  prisoner  for  the  sake  of  the  Gospel. 
If  Timothy  had  said:  I  do  not  side  with  Paul  nor  with 
Peter,  but  with  Christ,  and  had  known  at  the  same  time  that 
Paul  and  Peter  were  teaching  Christ,  he  would  have  denied 


7)  It  was,  no  doubt,  for  reasons  of  personal  advantage  that 
Zwingli  in  Switzerland  about  this  time  manifested  irritation 
when  the  Catholic  party  identified  him  with  Luther.  His  state- 
ment: "Neque  ego  Lutheri  causae  hie  patrocinor,  sed  evangelii," 
i.  e.:  "1  am  not  cliampioning  Luther's  cause,  but  tlio  Gospel's," 
cannot  enhance  the  world's  esteem   for  him. 


308  LUTHERANISM    AND   CHRISTIANITY. 

Christ  Himself.  For  Christ  says  regarding  those  who  preach 
Him  (Matt.  10,  40)  :  'He  that  receiveth  you  receiveth  Me/ 
and  (Luke  10,  16)  :  'He  that  despiseth  you  despiseth  Me.' 
Why?  Because  treatment  accorded  Christ's  messengers  who 
bring  to  men  His  Word  is  regarded  as  treatment  accorded 
to  Christ  Himself  and  His  Word."  «) 

The  friends  of  the  Reformation  at  Miltenberg  on  the 
Main  were  the  first  to  suffer  violence  at  the  hands  of  the 
Catholics.  In  1524,  Luther  addressed  a  consolatory  letter 
to  them,  to  which  he  appended  an  exposition  of  the  120th 
Psalm.  In  this  letter  he  says:  "Although  I  do  not  like 
to  see  the  doctrine  and  people  called  Lutheran,  and  must 
suffer  to  see  God's  Word  sullied  with  my  name,  still  they 
must  permit  Luther,  the  Lutheran  teaching  and  people,  to 
remain,  while  they,  together  with  their  teaching,  perish  and 
are  put  to  shame."  ^) 

In  1528,  some  of  Luther's  friends  in  the  dominions  of 
Duke  George  of  Saxony,  Luther's  confirmed  enemy,  tried 
to  reach  an  agreement  regarding  their  religion  with  the 
Duke.  One  of  the  articles  referred  to  Luther's  doctrine: 
they  proposed  to  say,  that  they  intended  to  abide  by  the 
Gospel.  Luther  held  that  this  would  not  sufiice  the  Duke 
as  an  answer,  and  suggested  that  they  might  say:  Inasmuch 
as  the  question  regarding  Luther's  teaching  referred  to  many 
things,  they  could  not  return  a  definite  answer;  for  Luther 
was  teaching  many  things  which  even  Duke  George  approved, 
as,  e.  g.,  his  defense  of  the  Sacrament  against  the  enthusiasts, 
his  statements  about  soldiers,  secular  government,  etc.  "More- 
over, Luther  himself  purposes  not  to  be  Lutheran,  except 
as  far  as  he  purely  teaches  the  Holy  Scriptures."  10) 

A  year  later  Luther  was  compelled  to  issue  against  Duke 
George  his  treatise  Concerning  Secret  and  Stolen  Letters, 
to  which  he  appended  a  brief  exposition  of  the  7th  Psalm. 
The  seventh  verse  in  this  Psalm  Luther  makes  to  apply 
directly  to  his  work  as  a  teacher  in  the  Church.  ITe  says : 
"Why,  my  hearty  wish  and  prayer,  my  diligent  teaching  and 

8)    St.  L.  Ed.  20,  73  f.  90  f.  9)    St.  L.  Ed.  5,  1283. 

10)    St.  L.  Ed.  21a,  1093. 


LUTHERANISM    AND    CHRISTIANITY.  309 

writing,  aims  at  nothing  else  than  to  see  the  poor  masses 
of  Thy  people,  who  have  been  so  miserably  torn  by  sects 
and  confused  by  dreams  of  men,  scattered  and  straying  like 
a  flock  of  sheep,  converted  to  Thee  again,  that  by  Thy  Spirit 
they  may  know  Thee  in  the  true  faith  as  their  only  Shepherd 
and  Master  and  Bishop  of  their  souls.  (Ezek.  34,  23;  1  Pet. 
2,  25.)  And  for  their  sake  I  still  pray  that  Thou  wouldest 
exalt  and  preserve  Thyself  and  Thy  Word  through  our 
ministry,  in  order  that  they  may  abide  with  Thee  in  the  one 
faith.  For  I  have  not  sought  to  have  them  cling  to  me,  or 
that  I  should  rise  to  honor  and  high  station,  but  I  have 
directed  them  to  Thee,  and  made  them  cling  to  Thee,  in  order 
that  Thou  mightest  be  greatly  exalted,  and  glorious  and 
praiseworthy  among  them."  11) 

On  Saturday  after  St.  John's  Daj-,  July  1,  1531,  Luther 
preached  on  the  words  of  Christ  in  John  7,  16 :  "The  doctrine 
is  not  mine,"  and  said:  "That  is  what  I  also  say:  The 
Gospel  is  not  mine,  thus  distinguishing  my  teaching  from 
that  of  all  other  preachers  who  do  not  hold  my  doctrine. 
Accordingly,  I  can  say :  This  is  my  doctrine,  —  Luther's 
doctrine;  and  again:  It  is  not  my  doctrine;  it  is  not  in 
my  hand,  but  is  the  gift  of  God.  Good  Lord,  I  have  not  spun 
it  out  of  my  own  head;  it  did  not  grow  in  my  garden;  it 
did  not  flow  from  my  spring;  it  was  not  born  of  me.  It  is 
God's  gift,  not  an  invention  of  man.  Thus  both  statements 
are  correct:  The  doctrine  is  mine,  and  yet,  not  mine.  For 
it  is  of  God,  the  heavenly  Father,  and  yet  it  is  I  that  preach 
and  maintain  this  doctrine."  ^2) 

In  this  manner  Luther  consistently,  throughout  his  writ- 
ings, maintains  the  identity  of  his  teaching  with  that  of 
Christ,  of  the  Bible,  of  the  true  apostolic  Church.  To  be 
Lutheran  a  doctrine  must  be  Christian,  and  anything  Chris- 
tian is  Lutheran.  The  Swedish  king  spoke  Luther's  mind 
when  he  said:  "Let  us  not  call  our  Church  Lutheran,  let 
us  call  it  Christian  and  Apostolic."  1^)  And  it  is  well  that 
attention   has  been   called  to   the  fact  that  "the   Lutheran 


11)    St.  L.  Ed.  19,  542.  12)    St.  L.  Ed.  8.  27, 

13)   Kraiith,  Conserv.  Reform.,  p.  118. 


310  LUTHERAXISM    AXD    CHRISTIANITY. 

Church  has  never  by  any  general  official  act  taken  the  name 
Lutheran.  Art,  history,  and  popular  usage  have  practically 
determined  its  title.  Said  the  Marquis  of  Brandenburg  when 
ridiculed  as  a  Lutheran:  'If  I  be  asked  whether  with  heart 
and  lip  I  confess  that  faith  which  God  has  restored  to  us  by 
Luther  as  His  instrument,  I  have  no  scruple,  nor  have  I  a  dis- 
position to  shrink  from  the  name  Lutheran.  Thus  under- 
stood, I  am,  and  shall  to  my  dying  hour  remain,  a  Lutheran.' 
This  is  the  only  sense  in  which  any  Lutheran  tolerates  the 
name."  1^)  The  very  confessional  writings  of  our  Church 
avoid  this  denominational  name  which  enemies  have  fastened 
upon  our  Church,  and  when  the  last  of  the  creedal  utterances 
of  our  Church,  the  Form  of  Concord,  in  words  that  vibrate 
with  earnestness,  waives  every  human  authority  as  a  deter- 
minant for  men's  faith,  and  traces  Luther's  teaching  only 
to  the  pure  fountain  of  Israel,  the  Word  of  God,  the  world 
must  acknowledge  that  the  Lutherans  have  done  all  in 
their  power  to  clear  their  common  denominational  name 
from  the  charge  of  sectarianism.  Adapting  the  saying  of 
William  Chillingworth  to  his  own  Church,  the  Lutheran 
truthfully  asserts :  "The  Bible,  the  whole  Bible,  nothing  but 
the  Bible,  is  the  religion  of  Lutheranism."  For  even  Prot- 
estantism, in  whose  behalf  the  English  confessor  uttered  his 
winged  word,  when  understood  in  its  historical  and  original 
meaning,  is  bound  up  in  Lutheranism,  and  Archbishop  Bram- 
hall  properly  reminded  his  countrymen  —  and  others  —  that 
"the  name  Protestant  is  one  to  which  others  have  no  right  but 
by  communion  with  the  Lutherans."  15) 

Gottes  Wort  und  Luthers  Lehr' 
Vergehet  nun  und  nimmermehr  — 

in  this  memorial  verse  Lutheran  catechumens  are  taught  to 
express  their  cpnviction  of  the  identity  and  the  permanency 
of  Lutheran  teaching  and  Bible-teaching.  "Luthers  Lehr','^ 
not  in  so  far  as  it  is  God's  Word,  but  hecaiise  it  is  God's 
Word,  is  ever-enduring.     The  world  will  ever  need  it,  as  it 


14)  H.  E.  Jacobs,  in  Universal  Cyclopedia,  7,  358. 

15)  Conserv.  Reform.,  p.  117. 


LUTHERANISM    A>CU    CIIKISTIAMTY.  311 

needs  the  pure  Word  and  tlie  pure  Gosi)el  of  the  Redeemer, 
and  God  will  permit  the  extinction  of  Lutheranism  as  little 
as  that  of  His  Word  and  Christ's  evangel.  The  human  or 
historic  title  may  perish,  —  though  we  doubt  even  that,  — 
but  Lutheranism  as  a  principle  of  religion  is  imperishable. 
Xhe  various  essays  in  this  book,  in  distinct  ways  and  with 
different  degrees  of  pointedness,  all  serve  to  exhibit  the 
harmony  of  "Gottes  Wort"  and  "Luthers  Lehr' " ;  but  we 
would  invite  special  attention  to  the  discussion  of  the  three 
great  principles  in  Luther's  and  the  Bible's  teaching:  Sola 
Scriptura,  Sola  Gratia,  Sola  FideM') 

Whether  there  is  anything  in  a  name,  depends  very  much 
on  the  appropriateness  of  the  name.  As  regards  the  name 
"Lutheran,"  the  compelling  logic,  the  eminent  fitness  of  the 
name,  which  induced  the  followers  of  the  evangelical  teaching 
emanating  from  Wittenberg  not  only  to  bow  with  such  grace 
as  they  could  muster  to  the  inevitable,  to  this  seeming  sect 
name,  but  to  accept  it  with  as  great  a  joy,  and  cherish  it 
as  just  as  exquisite  a  badge  of  honor  as  the  early  disciples 
accepted  the  name  Christians,  —  the  noble  record  which  the 
name  has  made  for  itself  in  four  centuries,  the  blessed 
influences  which  have  gone  out  from  the  Church  that  has 
maintained  the  name  in  its  true  historic  and  only  legitimate 
meaning,  —  these  things  have  been  forcefully  and  eloquently 
set  forth  by  two  of  America's  Lutheran  teachers,  and  there 
is  no  need  of  repeating  their  argument. i")     But  we  cannot 


16)  See  Prof.  Engelder's  article,  p.  97. 

17)  See  Dr.  Walther's  series  of  articles  "On  the  Name  Lu- 
theran," witli  wliich  lie  started  his  famous  periodical,  Der  Luthc- 
raner,  Vol.  1,  2  ff.  5  h\  0  fT.,  etc.,  also  his  Foreword  to  Vol.  6  of 
Der  lAitherancr.  on  the  charge  of  exclusivism  raised  against  the 
Lutheran  Church;  and  Dr.  Krauth.  in  Couserv.  Reform.,  p.  121  f., 
where  he  reviews,  somewhat  as  Walther  had  done,  various  names 
which  possibly  might  be  applied  to  our  Church,  and  concludes: 
"Every  one  of  them,  as  the  distinctive  name  of  a  comnumion.  is 
open  to  the  charge  of  claiming  too  much,  expressing  too  little, 
or  of  tlirusting  an  accident  into  the  place  of  an  essential  j)iin- 
ciple.  The  necessity  of  distinctive  names  arises  from  the  indis- 
putable divisions  of  Christendom,   and   in   the   posture  of  all   the 


312  LUTHERAXISM    AXD    CHRISTIANITY. 

forego  the  pleasure  of  noting  a  few  of  the  utterances  of 
Walther  on  the  relation  of  Lutheranisni  to  Christianity. 
He  says:  "By  professing  allegiance  to  the  Evangelical  Lu- 
theran Church,  we  mean  to  profess  allegiance  to  none  other 
than  the  [afore-described]  one,  holy,  catholic.  Christian 
Church  of  all  times,  which  alone  has  and  holds  the  truth, 
and  comprises  the  sum  total  of  all  the  children  of  God." 
^'The  Lutheran  Church  is  not  the  visible  totality  of  all  who 
are  called  Lutheran,  but  the  great,  unchangeable  Church,  to 
which  all  those  who  are  rightly  called  Lutherans  profess 
allegiance  by  their  teaching.  To  this  Church  millions  of 
souls  have  belonged  before  Luther's  name  was  uttered  in 
this  world,  and  who  were  not  called  Lutheran.  Accordingly, 
a  particular  congregation,  or  a  national  Church,  in  which 
Lutheran  doctrine  is  preached  and  received,  is  only  a,  but 
not  the^  Lutheran  Church;  for  this  Church  is  scattered 
throughout  the  world."  "We  extend  our  hand  to  any  person 
who  without  guile  submits  to  the  entire  written  Word  of 
God,   cherishes  in  his  heart  and  professes  before   men  the 


facts  the  name  of  Luther  defines  the  character  of  a  particular 
Church  as  no  other  could.  It  has  been  borne  specifically  by  but 
one  Church;  and  that  Church,  relieved  as  she  is  of  all  the  re- 
sponsibility of  assuming  it,  need  not  be  ashamed  of  it.  iSTo  name 
of  a  mere  man  is  more  dear  to  Christendom  and  to  humanity. 
It  is  a  continual  remembrancer  of  the  living  faith,  the  untiring 
energy,  the  love  of  Christ  and  of  men,  on  the  part  of  one  who 
did  such  eminent  service  to  the  Church,  that  men  cannot  think 
of  her  without  thinking  of  him."  —  Schmauck  and  Benze,  in  The 
Confessional  Principle  and  the  Confessions  of  the  Lutheran  Church, 
p.  6 :  "The  great  error  of  Schaff  in  his  Creeds  of  Christendom  and 
of  many  liberal  Lutherans  is  the  assumption  that  Lutheranisni 
is  a  form  of  Protestantism  colored  by  the  personal  opinions  of 
two  reformers,  Luther  and  Melanchthon.  Lutheranisni  is  the 
old  faith  of  the  Church,  catholic  and  evangelical,  protestant  only 
as  to  Koman  errors,  founded  on  the  teaching  of  Scripture,  with- 
out the  admixture  of  human  reason.  Luther  and  Melanchthon, 
as  the  authors  of  'personal  opinions,'  have  no  more  to  do  with 
Lutheranism  than  the  crack  of  the  Liberty  Bell  has  to  do  M'itb 
our  national  libertv  itself." 


LUTHER A.MSM    AND    CHRISTIANITY.  313 

true  faith  in  our  dear  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  we  regard  such 
a  person  as  our  fellow-believer,  our  brother  in  Christ, 
a  member  of  our  Church,  a  Lutheran,  no  matter  among  what 
sect  he  may  be  concealed  and  kept  a  prisoner."  "As  long 
as  there  has  been  an  orthodox  Church  on  earth,  so  long 
there  has  been  a  Lutheran  Church.  It  sounds  strange,  but 
it  is  true,  the  Lutheran  Church  is  as  old  as  the  world;  for 
it  has  no  other  doctrine  than  that  which  the  patriarchs, 
prophets,  and  apostles  received  from  God,  and  proclaimed. 
The  name  Lutheran,  indeed,  did  not  come  into  existence 
until  three  hundred  years  ago,  but  not  the  matter  which 
that  name  signifies.  Accordingly,  the  question,  Where  was 
the  Lutheran  Church  before  Luther?  is  easily  answered, 
thus :  The  Lutheran  Church  was  wherever  there  still  were 
Christians  who  with  all  their  heart  believed  in  Jesus  Christ 
and  His  Holy  Word,  and  would  not  surrender  this  alone- 
saving  faith  of  theirs  in  favor  of  human  ordinances,  or  who 
made  this  Church  their  final  refuge  in  the  hour  of  death." 
"Luther  by  no  means  founded  a  new  Church,  much  less 
was  that  his  intention.  On  the  contrary,  he  raised  his 
protest  against  the  papists  because  they  had  in  innumerable 
doctrines  departed  from  the  old,  true,  apostolic  Church.  His 
writings  were  nothing  else  than  a  call  to  Christendom  not 
to  forsake  the  old  Church.  .  .  .  All  doctrines  which  Luther, 
by  his  study  of  the  Word  of  God,  recognized  as  the  doctrines 
of  the  true  Church  he  retained,  proclaimed  them  to  the 
world,  and  defended  them  till  his  death."  18) 

It  is  possible  that  there  will  be  people  who  manifest  un- 
bounded astonishment  at  assertions  such  as  these.  They 
will  only  reveal  that  they  have  not  grasped  the  true  import 
of  wliat  happened  four  hundred  years  ago.  They  would 
assign  us  a  seat  on  the  sectarian  bench:  we  decline,  decidedly. 
If  Luther  organized  a  sect,  we  will  have  nothing  to  do  with 
him;    we  belong  to  Jesus  Christ. 

Ah,  but  then  we  are  "the  alone-saving  Church,"  and  the 
Roman  Church  has  revived  in  the  Lutheran!  Yes,  we  must 
be  j)repared  for  this  shallow  inference  from  statements  which 


18)   Der  Lutheraner,  1,  97.  99.  (Comp.  6,  18)  5.  G  f.  97. 


314  LUTHERAXISM    AND    CHRISTIANITY. 

assert  merely  the  ecumenical  character  of  Lutheran  teaching, 
and  merge  Lutheranism  utterly  in  Christianity,  so  much  so, 
that  we  see  Luther  no  more,  but  "Jesus  only." 

We  must  be  prepared  likewise  to  meet  the  objection  that; 
the  claim  of  scripturalness  and  catholicity  is  asserted  by 
every  sect.  Anybody  can  assert.  The  patient  expounder  of 
Lutheranism  will  succeed  in  showing  to  the  satisfaction  of 
every  unbiased  mind  that  the  Lutheran  Reformation  is 
nothing  but  the  restoration  of  Christianity  in  its  original, 
pure  form. 

From  this  it  follows  that,  when  we  speak  of  a  mission  of 
the  Lutheran  Church,  we  do  not  mean,  and  we  cannot  mean, 
anything  else  than  a  reassertion  of  Biblical  teaching  in  all 
its  parts.  "To  the  Law  and  to  the  testimony!"  —  that  is 
the  slogan  for  this  mission.  There  is  a  reason  why  other 
Churches  professing  to  stand  on  the  Protestant  foundation 
are  speaking  of  a  further  development  of  the  principles  of 
the  Reformation:  they  have  had  bequeathed  to  them  a  task 
unfinished,  or  faultily  executed  by  their  founders.  The 
Lutheran  Church,  viewing  the  Reformation  as  the  movement 
by  which  men  were  brought  back  to  the  arms  of  Jesus, 
enfolded  in  the  Scriptures  of  God,  and  enabled  to  have 
a  free  access  by  faith  to  the  heart  of  the  God  of  grace,  rests 
satisfied  with  those  achievements.  Its  task  in  the  future 
can  only  be  to  apply  to  every  arising  need,  amid  the  ever- 
changing  circumstances  of  men's  earthly  existence,  the 
eternal  truths  which  the  angel  flying  through  the  midst  of 
heaven  with  the  everlasting  Gospel  proclaimed  to  every 
nation,  and  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people.  (Rev.  14,  6.  7.) 
The  faithful  testimony  of  the  Lutheran  Church  can  render 
invaluable  aid  to  every  other  Church  in  making  it  see  the 
deficiencies  of  its  teaching.  Oh!  may  this  testimony  be 
largely  rendered,  and  in  no  spirit  of  haughty  superiority, 
but  of  serving  love.  After  writing  the  words  above  quoted 
to  Hartmuth  von  Kronberg,  Luther  pleads  that  the  poor 
Roman  Catholics  be  kindly  treated  and  with  much  for- 
bearance weaned  from  their  shocking  errors.  The  warning 
applies  to  the  whole  activity  of  the  Church,  and  it  may  not 


CHKOXOLOGICAL   TABLE   OF   THE   AGE   OF   LUTHER.  315 

be  amiss  that  we  remind  ourselves  during  the  coming  days 
of  the  anniversary  that  the  virulence  of  passion  can  never 
add  to,  but  may  subtract  from,  the  majesty  of  simple  truth, 
spoken  without  fear  or  favor.  As  a  witness  for  Christ  and 
leading  men  to  abide  in  His  Word,  the  Lutheran  Church 
will  fulfil  her  enlightening  and  liberating  world-mission. 
She  does  not  stake  her  success  on  the  spread  of  a  human 
name  or  on  the  organization  of  one  universal,  visible  Church, 
but  on  the  dissemination  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Christ. 
She  is  content  if,  with  Luther  and  his  early  followers,  men 
accept  the  teaching  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  and  give 
full  recognition  to  the  personality  and  work  of  Christ,  who  is 
the  chief  corner-stone  on  which  men's  faith  must  be  built  up. 
With  malice  toward  none,  with  love  toward  all,  with 
peace  in  their  hearts  and  truth  on  their  lips,  let  the  sons 
and  daughters  of  the  Lutheran  Church  address  themselves 
to  the  tasks  of  the  new  age.  Let  them  reclaim  from  error 
those  who  are  still  fettered  by  it,  aid  all  who  struggle  to 
assert  and  maintain  the  pure  pristine  teaching  of  God's 
people;  above  all,  let  them  hold  that  fast  which  they  have, 
that  no  man  may  take  their  crown.  And  let  them  trustfully 
confide  to  the  God  of  truth,  righteousness,  and  love  the 
fortunes  of  their  Church  as  they  were  taught  to  do  in 
their  childhood  days : 

God's  Word,  which  IMartin  Luther  taught, 
Shall   nevermore  be  brought  to  naught. 


Chronological  Table  of  the  Age  of  Luther. 

1439—1493  Frederick  III    (IV)   Emperor  of  Germany. 

1440   (  ?)    Gutenberg  invents  printing-press. 

1450  Vatican  Library  founded  by  Pope  Nicholas  V. 

14.)3  ^lalioinot  II  takes  Constantinople. 

1455  Gutenberg  prints  his  first  Bible.  • 

1471—1484  Sixtus  IV  Pope. 

1477  First  watches  made  at  Nuernberg. 

1483  Ricliard  of  York  smothers  the  princes;    is  proclaimed 
king  of  England. 
November  10.    Martin  Luther  horn  at  Eislehen. 


316  CHRO^'OLOGICAL   TABLE   OF   THE   AGE  OF   LUTHER. 

1484  William  Tyndale  born. 
January  1,  Ulrich  Zwingli  born. 

1484—1492  Innocent  VIII  Pope. 
1484 — 1497  Luther  at  Mansfeld. 

1485  August  25.     Saxony,  by  the  Treaty  of  Leipzig,  divided 

into  two  parts :    Electoral,  or  Ernestine,  and  Ducal, 

or  Albertine  Saxonv. 
1485—1500  Albert  Duke  of  Saxony. 
1487 — 1525  Frederick  the  Wise  Elector  of  Saxony. 

1488  Henry  VII  founds  English  navy. 

1489  John  Wessel  dies. 
1492—1503  Alexander  VI  Pope. 

1492  Fall  of  Granada;    end  of  Moorish  reign  in  Europe. 
October  12.     Columbus  discovers  America. 
1494 — 1547  Francis  I  King  of  France. 
1494 — 1547  Henry  VIII  King  of  England;    ascends  throne  1509. 

1497  Melanchthon  born. 

Cabot  reaches  coast  of  Newfoundland. 
1497 — 1498  Luther  at  the  school  of  the  Nullhrueder  at  Magdeburg. 

1498  Savonarola  burned  at  the  stake. 
Columbus  reaches  mouth  of  Orinoco. 
India  reached  by  sea  from  Portugal. 

1498 — 1501  Luther  at  8t.  George's  School  at  Eisenach;    received 
hy  Frail  Cotta. 

1499  Switzerland  establishes  its  independence. 
1500 — 1539  George  the  Bearded  Duke  of  Saxony. 

1501  Luther  begins  studies  at  University  of  Erfurt. 

1502  Luther  takes  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Ai^ts. 
Columbus  surveys  coast  of  Colombia. 
University  of  Wittenberg  founded. 

1503—1513  Julius  II  Pope. 

1505  Luther  takes  degree  of  Master  of  Arts. 

July    12.     Luther   enters  Augustinian  monastery   at 
Erfurt. 
150G  Building  of  St.  Peter's  Cathedral  at  Rome  begun. 
Columbus   dies  broken-hearted. 

1507  Spring.     Luther  ordained  priest;    first  mass  May  2. 
1508 — 1567  Philip  the  Magnanimous,  Landgrave  of  Hesse    (born 

1504;    declared  of  age  1517). 

1508  November.    Luther  called  to  professorship  at  ^Yitten- 

berg ;    teaches  Ethics  of  Aristotle. 

1509  March   9.     Luther   takes  degree  of  Baccalaureus  ad 

Biblia. 
July  10.     Calvin  born. 

1510  Autumn.      Luther    teaches    Lombard's    Sentences    at 

Erfurt. 

1511  Summer.     Luther  returns   to   Wittenberg   to    lecture 

on  the  Bible. 
October — 1512,  February.     Luther's  journey  to  Rome, 

where  he  spends  month  of  December. 
Council  of  Pisa. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE   OF   THE   AGE  OF   LUTHER.  317 

1512  October   18.     Luther  takes  degree  of  Doctor  of  The- 

ology. 
Ponce  de   Leon   in   search   of   Fountain  of   Perpetual 
Youth. 
1512 — 1517  Fifth  Lateran  Council. 

1513  \'asco  de  Balboa  discovers  Pacific  Ocean. 
1513—1521  Leo  X  Pope.     (Dies  December  1,   1521.) 

1514  Reuchlin's  Controversy  with  Dominicans. 
Cortez   begins  conquest  of  Mexico. 

1515  May.     Luther  elected  district  vicar  of  his  order. 

1516  "Epistolae  Obscuroruni  Virorum"   publislied. 
Erasmus  publishes  Greek  New  Testament. 
Zwingli  goes  to  ]Maria-Einsiedeln. 

1517  October  31.     Luther  posts  Ninety -Five  Theses  on  In- 

dulgences on  Castle  Church  at  Wittenberg. 

1518  Melanchthon  becomes   professor  at  Wittenberg. 
Luther  at  Heidelberg. 

October  12 — 14.  Luther's  interview  with  Cajetan  at 
Augsburg. 

1519  January  1.   Zwingli  preaches  initial  sermon  at  Zurich. 
January    4 — 5.     Luther's    interview    with    Miltitz   at 

Altenburg. 
July  4 — 14.    Luther's  debate  icith  Eck  at  Leipzig. 
1519 — 1555  Charles  V  Emperor  of  Germany   (elected  June,  1519; 
crowned   October  23,    1520;     retires  to  monastery 
of  St.  Just  1557). 

1520  Massacre    of    Stockholm    instituted   by    Christian    II, 

King  of   Denmark. 

June  15.  Leo  X  signs  bull  '"Exsurge  Domine,"  ex- 
communicating Luther  if  he  fails  to  recant  within 
sixty  days. 

August.  Luther  publishes  ''Address  to  the  Christian 
Nobility  of  the  German  Nation  on  the  Improve- 
ment of  the  Christian  Estate." 

October.  Luther  publishes  the  treatise  ''On  the  Baby- 
lonian Captivity  of  the  Church." 

November.  Luther  publishes  tract  "On  the  Freedom 
of  a  Christian  }[an." 

December  10.  Luther  burns  the  Pope's  bull  and  the 
Canon  Laiv. 

1521  March    16.    Magellan   discovers  Philippine  Islands. 
April  17 — 18.    Luther  appears  before  Diet  at  Worms. 
(Edict  of  Worms  signed  May  2G,  dated  ]May  8.) 
Mexico  City  taken  by  Cortez. 

May  4 — 1522,  March   1.    Lutho-'s  exile  at  the  Wart- 
burg ;    translation  of  Bible  begun. 
Melanchthon's  "Loci"  published. 
Beginning  of  the  reformation  at  Riga. 

1522  March.    Luther   preaches   eight   sermons   against    the 

Zwickau  prophets  at  Wittenberg. 
Reuchlin  dies. 
Magellan  completes  circumnavigation  of  the  globe. 


318  CHROXOLOGICAL   TABLE   OF   THE   AGE  OF  LUTHER. 

1522—1523  Hadrian  VI  Pope. 

1523  April  4 — 5.    Catherine  von  Bora   (born  at  Lippendorf 

January  29,  1499)  leaves  Nimbschen  Cistercian 
Cloister,  which  she  entered  1508,  and  where  she 
took  the  veil  October  8,   1515. 

]May  7.  Sickingen  overthrown  and  revolt  of  knights 
quelled  at  Landstuhl. 

Thomas  Muenzer  at  Allstaedt. 

Spanish  Inquisition  begins  reign  of  terror  in  Nether- 
lands; H.  Voes  and  J.  Esch  first  martyrs  of  the 
Reformation. 

LutJiet'^s  controversy  icith  Henry  VIII. 
1523—1534  Clement  VII  Pope. 

1524  Staupitz  dies. 
Karlstadt  at  Orlamuende. 
Erasmus  attacks  Luther. 

Diet  of  Nuernberg.     Treaty  of  Regensburg. 
Luther  publishes  appeal  "To  the  Magistrates  of  All 
Cities  of  Germany  in  behalf  of  Christian  Schools." 
Luther  publishes  tract  "On  Trade  and  Usury." 
1524 — 1525  May.    Peasants'  War;    suppressed  at  Frankenhausen. 
Luther  icrites  "Against  the  Thievish  and  Murderous 
Hordes  of  Peasants." 

1525  February  24.    Charles  V  defeats  Francis  I  at  battle 

of  Pavia. 
June  23.    Luther  marries  Catherine  von  Bora. 
Anabaptist  uprising  in  Switzerland. 
Beginning  of  controversy  regarding  Lord's  Supper. 
Luther   publishes    treatise    "On    the   Bondage   of    the 

Will"  against  Erasmus. 
1525 — 1532  John  the  Steadfast  Elector  of  Saxony. 

1526  May  4.   Formation  of  League  of  Torgau  between  Philip 

of  Hesse  and  John  of  Saxony. 
June — July.    Diet  and  Recess  of  Spires. 
Luther  publishes  "German  Mass." 
June  7.    Hans  Luther  born. 

Debate  at   Baden  between  Zwunglians  and  Catholics. 
Tyndale  publishes  English  New  Testament. 

1527  Diets  of  Odense  and  Westeraes;    Gustavus  Vasa  suc- 

ceeds in  having  Lutheranism  adopted. 
May    6.     Spanish    army    sacks    Rome    and    imprisons 

Pope. 
July.   Luther  severely  ill. 
(?)    "Ein'  feste  Burg." 
December  10.    Elizabeth  Luther  born. 

1528  First  Disputation  at  Berne. 
August  3.    Elizabeth  Luther  dies. 

1529  Visitation    of    churches   in   Saxony;     Luther's    Cate- 

chisms. 
Diet  of  Spires;    Recess  April  12;    Protest  of  Lutheran 

Princes  April  25. 
Vienna  besieged  bv  Turks. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE  OF  THE   AGE  OF  LUTHER.  319 

May  4,    Magdalene  Luther  horn. 

October  2.  Luther's  Conference  with  Zwingli  at  Mar- 
burg. First  Peace  of  Kappel  between  Zwinglians 
and  Romanists. 

1530  Diet  of  Aiigsbiirj^:    arrival  of  Emperor  June  15,  pres- 

entation of  Augsburg  Confession  June  25,  Recess 
of  Augsburg  published  in  Imperial  Edict  Novem- 
ber 19. 

April  23 — October  4.  Luther's  exile  at  Feste  Kohurg 
(luring  Diet  of  Augsburg. 

]May  29.    Luther's  father  dies. 

Tyndale  publishes  liis  English  Pentateuch. 

1531  Formation  of  Smalcald  League. 
June  30.    Luther s  mother  dies. 

October   11.    Zwingli  slain  in  battle  at  Kappel. 
November  9.    Martin  Luther.  Jr.,  born. 
1532 — 1547  John  Frederick  the  Magnanimous  Elector  of  Saxony 
(lived  as  Duke  of  Saxony  till  1554). 

1532  February  4.    Black  Cloister  at  Wittenberg  deeded  to 

Luther. 
Diet  of  Ratisbon. 

Peace  of  Nuernberg  between  Catholics  and  Protestants. 
Henry  VIII  renounces  allegiance  to  the  Pope. 

1533  January  28.    Paul  Luther  born. 
Pizarro  conquers  Peru. 

1534  Luther  completes  translation  of  the  Bible. 
December  17.    Margaret  Luther  born. 
Reformation     of     Wuerttemberg ;      Duke    Ulrich     re- 
stored by  Philip  of  Hesse. 

1534 — 1535  Anabaptist  uprising  at  Muenster. 
1534—1549  Paul  III  Pope. 

1535  Calvin    publishes    his    "Institutio    Religionis    Chris- 

tianao." 

Henry  \lll  has  Sir  Thomas  More  beheaded  for  deny- 
ing his  supremacy'  in  the  spiritual  affairs  of  his 
subjects. 

November  7.  Luther  confers  with  papal  legate  Ver- 
gerio  at  Wittenberg. 

1536  Calvin  in  Geneva. 
Erasmus  dies. 

]\Iay  29.    Luther  signs  Wittenberg   Concordia. 
World's  first  newspaper,  "The  Gazetta,"  published  at 

Venice. 
Diet  of   Copenliagen. 
October   6.    Tyndale  burned   at   Vilvoorden.     ("Lord, 

open  the  King  of  England's  eyes!") 

1537  February.    Luther   prepares   Smalcald   Articles,   goes 

to  attend  Congress  at  Smalcald,  ichere  he  is  very 
ill  with   the  stone,  and  males  his  first  will  Feb- 
ruary 27. 
Controrcrsi/   trith  Antinoinians. 


320  CHROXOLOGICAL   TABLE   OF   THE   AGE   OF   LUTHER. 

1538  League  of  Nuernberg  formed. 
Calvin  expelled  from  Geneva. 

1539  February — ^April.      Congress   at   Frankfort;     negotia- 

tions Avith  Emperor;    Treaty  of  Frankfort  signed 

April    19. 
^lay.    Luther  at  Leipzig ;   inaugurates  reformation  in 

Albertine  Saxony. 
Reformation  introduced  in  Brandenburg  by  Joachim  II. 
Diet  of  Odense. 
December  10.    Luther  signs  ''confessional  counsel"  in 

the  matter  of  Philip  of  Hesse's  second  marriage. 
1539 — 1541  Henry  the  Pious  Duke  of  Saxony. 

1540  January — February.    Catherine  Luther  very  ill. 
June,    Religious  Conference  at  Spires  and  Hagenau. 
July.    Luther  at  Conference  at  Eisenach. 

Society  of  Jesus    ("Jesuits")    formed. 

1541  January.    Religious  conference  at  ^Yorms. 
Karlstadt  dies. 

Regensburg  Interim. 
Calvin  returns  to  Geneva. 

1541  April — July.    Diet  and  religious  conference  at  Ratis- 

bon. 
Reformation  at  Halle  begun. 

Fernando  de  Soto  discovers  the  Mississippi  River. 
1541 — 1546  Maurice  Duke  of  Saxony   (becomes  Elector  of  Saxony 

1546,   dies   1553). 

1542  January  6.    Luther  makes  his  second  will. 

^Yar  of  Smalcald  League  with  Duke  Henry  of  Bruns- 
wick, who  is  expelled  and  his  country  opened  to 
the  Reformation. 

Beginning  of  Roman  Inquisition;  Francis  Xavier  in 
India. 

September  20.     Magdalene  Luther  dies. 

1543  Diet  of  Nuernberg. 

1544  Diet  of  Spires. 
Peace  of  Crespy. 

1545—1547   (1563)  Council  of  Trent. 

1545  Diet  of  Worms. 

1546  February  18.    Luther  dies  at  Eislehen;    buried  at  the 

foot  of  his  jiulpit  in  the  Schlosskirche  at  Witten- 
berg, February  22. 

Religious   Conference  at  Regensburg. 

Diet  of  Ratisbon. 

Beginning  of  Smalcaldic  War. 

1547  April   24.    Defeated  in  battle  at  Muehlberg,  Elector 

John  Frederick  loses  his  electorate  and  half  of  his 
country. 
1552  December  20.    Catherine  Luther  dies. 


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